


Frostfall (Leonardo X Female Reader)

by Ally_the_turtle



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-21 03:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 90,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21293201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ally_the_turtle/pseuds/Ally_the_turtle
Summary: President of the school counsellor, Y/N L/N, you, had a fantastic reputation in Roosevelt High. You were perfect in the eyes of your peers. Your parents mysteriously died when you were very young and the O'Neils took you in. You've lived with them for a solid 5 years and you've grown to love April as your sister and Kirby as your father.However, you had a secret. One that no one knew except one man; Jack Kurtzman.Unexpectedly, that secret might just come to light as your life took a massive turn after you met a certain group of mutant ninja turtles.TMNT 2012 © NickelodeonBe More Chill characters © Joe Iconis and BMC
Relationships: Donatello (TMNT)/Leonardo (TMNT)/Michelangelo (TMNT)/Raphael (TMNT)/Reader, Leonardo (TMNT)/Reader
Comments: 32
Kudos: 69





	1. Kraang

_Rumble._

Echoing through the left wing of the Roosevelt theatre were the sound of heels clacking against the ground, making its way to the stage. A young girl with black pants, a dark F/C sleeveless shirt which was covered by a light F/C jeans jacket slowly walked to where she was supposed to be.

_Rumble._

Lights blinded those E/C eyes but it adjusted as the girl stood in front of a crowd of high school students on the left side of the stage. In front was a podium with a microphone on the side. With shaky hands, a deep breath was taken before words came out.

"Welcome back to assembly everyone."

_Rumble._

"I hope you all had a great weekend. We have a few students presenting projects and clubs for you all to potentially join which will impact your portfolio for university. I trust that you all sign up for at least one of them. Also, on Wednesday, there is a student council board election so there will be an email sent to all of you so you can pick your vote."

_Rumble._

The students murmured and looked at each other, perhaps gossiping about the people who will be presenting their projects and clubs and the candidates for the board. However there was another sound that could be heard aside from the murmuring students; rumbles. Some students looked above at the ceiling and a faint crack could be seen. The speaker followed their gazes and upon seeing the crack on the ceiling, the school alarm bell rang.

** _BOOM!_ **

Suddenly, the ceiling fell. Rubble and pieces of the ceiling fell on students as they ran for their lives towards the exits. Sphere-like ships flew inside from the giant hole and a robotic-like voice spoke through the megaphone.

"Kraang, capture humans for Kraang experiments."

Screams of terror erupted in the theatre as the sphere ships captured students and flew back to a larger sphere ship above, one that had a large pink glowing eye in the middle. Escaping through the exit of the left wing, you, the speaker, ran and stopped behind a corner, feeling the adrenaline rush inside you. Taking in large breaths, you attempted to calm yourself but the screams of your peers prevented you from doing so. Despite all the screams and explosions, you heard your phone ring in your pocket. You took it out and read the caller ID.

Jack Kurtzman.

You answered the phone and spoke to the man. "Jack! What's happening?!"

"It's the Kraang's invasion. They brought the Technodrome with them and are capturing humans to turn them into Kraang creatures." He explained in a soft, almost whisper-like tone. "Where are you?"

"I-I'm still in school, hiding."

"Where's April?" Your heart felt like it had stopped after hearing that question. Everything around you slowed down, your heavy breathing could only be heard.

"I... I don't know." You replied, your voice barely a whisper.

"Shit. The Kraang must have gotten hold of her. The only reason they're here is because they have her, she's the key!" Jack continued, his tone turning more distressed.

"Ah shit."

"Y/N. You have to take cover, it won't take long for them to find you too." He said. "Please, stay safe."

With that, he ended the call. He, too, had to take cover as well. Robotic footsteps approached the corner you were hiding behind and your heart sped up, feeling the adrenaline rush again.

"Alright Winter, time to come out." You mumbled to yourself before you felt a change in your body.

Your E/C eyes glowed and your hair turned from H/C to a beautiful snowy white with a few strands of light grey in them. An ice spike formed around your clenched hand and you sprung out of your hiding spot, sprinting towards the Kraang and planting your spike through its neck, breaking it off from its body and shutting it down. The pink brain screeched as it came out of the robot body and ran off. A sigh escaped your lips with white mist. Winter was your alter ego, she appeared whenever your adrenaline levels reached a certain point.You had powers, cryogenic ones.

Screams snapped you out of your moment as you peered out to see more students getting taken away in those sphere ships. You couldn't let them see you like this, it would ruin your reputation! Gathering up all the courage you had, you clench your fists and a large wave of cold mist erupted from your body, spreading the room until it became rather hazy. Carefully and quickly, you formed ice spikes around your hands and shot them towards the Kraang bots as well as the ships, freeing the prisoners inside. They all ran for the exit until you spotted no one however a whimper caught your attention. A Kraang had walked up to someone hiding behind the theatre seats and pulled the student up to reveal it was none other than Jeremy Heere.

"Kraang must capture the one known as Jeremy Heere for experimentation of the device known as the SQUIP." The Kraang said.

"The SQUIP's gone man!! Someone help!!" Jeremy's twang-like voice yelled.

At that moment, you sprinted closer to the Kraang and shot an ice spike at it, destroying it. You looked at Jeremy who looked at you with his mouth agape. Looking deep inside his eyes, you pointed towards the exit doors, motioning him to escape, and he nodded before clumsily getting up and running out. Crap. Someone had seen you. Thankfully you didn't have to speak to make him understand. Looking up and the hole on the ceiling, you shot ice blasts at it, filling up the hole with rock hard ice. Doing that drained you as you collapsed on the ground, feeling weak all of a sudden. Your snowy white hair returned to its H/C colour and your glowing eyes turned to normal. Laying on the ground, you took deep breaths, trying to further calm yourself. There was no way the Kraang could break that ice ceiling now.

After staying inside for a while, you finally stood up, stretching your back out before slowly pushing the theatre door open, peeking out to see if the coast was clear. Your eyes scanned the area and saw nothing and no one. Pushing the door further, you took cautious steps out, peeking from corner to corner. Strangely enough, the halls were deserted apart from a few students cowering in fear behind pillars, hugging their knees. Others were inside classrooms, hiding in one corner.

You walked around for a bit before you were suddenly pulled inside the janitor's closet. The stranger turned on their phone's screen and flashed it on their face and you recognise them; it was the philipino gamer boy in the iconic red hoodie, Michael Mell. His eyes were frightened but showed relief after seeing you. He sighed out before leaning against the shelf were many cleaning products were sitting on.

"Oh God you have no idea how happy I am to see you, Pres." He said. You cringed at your famous nickname, feeling that it was all you were to your peers.

"Me too. Are you okay?" You asked.

"Surprisingly fine." He replied. "This is nuts! What's going on? Is this actually happening? Is this the apocalypse??"

"I don't know." You lied. "I ran into one of those robots and they had weird brain aliens inside their chests."

"What the hell... This is like Apocalypse of the Damned IRL!"

"Eh, it's one way to interpret this."

"I heard from one of those robots that they were looking for Jeremy. Do you know why?"

"It's for his SQUIP. They want to experiment with it."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Where is he? H-Have you seen him? Is he-"

"He's fine. I saw someone save him at the theatre."

"Thank God. Let's stay here until it's over."

"Good idea. You replied with a sigh, looking out of the small vent on the door. Sitting down on the cold floor facing Michael, you rested your head against the lower shelf, doing breathing exercises.

"How are you so calm?" Michael asked after an entire minute of silence.

"If there's one thing my doctor mom told me, it's that remaining calm in these kinds of situations is the best thing to do. You can't think clearly when you're panicked." You replied, looking at his frightened chocolate brown eyes.

"Right, of course. Not surprised to hear that from you, Pres." He said with a small smile, appreciating your comfort. You smiled back before looking up and closing your eyes until you were interrupted by the sound of shifting and shaky breaths. You opened your eyes to see Michael looking restless and anxious so you had an idea. Flashing a smile at him, you took out your phone and opened the charades app. "Hey, let's play a few rounds of charades to ease the tension, yeah?" He nodded at your suggestion and with that, you placed your phone on your forehead with the screen pointing at him. "Okay okay, you have to explain the plot of the game without saying the word on the screen."

"Got it." The boy in the hoodie said whilst doing the 'okay' sign. The timer ended and the first word appeared which was Uncharted. "Nathan Drake."

"Uncharted the series!" You guessed and he nodded. You flipped your phone downwards and the screen flashed green before the next title appeared.

"Creeper, aaawww man."

"Minecraft!" You giggled and flipped your phone again.

"Hmm... don't know that one." Michael said as he looked at the game title for a few seconds and so you flipped your phone upwards. The next title was Grand Theft Auto. "Oh! The mission passed meme."

"Uhhh... Auto something?" You guessed and he did a circular motion with his hands, motioning you to keep guessing. "Auto the Grand? Grand Auto? OH WAIT- Grand Theft Auto!"

"Got it!" Michael applauded and you both continued playing a few rounds until you both got tired and just wanted to talk.

The both of you did just that for hours and hours, getting to know each other's hobbies, interests, passions, dreams etc. You learned a lot about Michael and he learned a lot about you, a mutual friendship was starting to grow and that made you happy. With each exchange of laughs, your heart felt lighter and your head felt less painful, you felt fresh and new as if your old skin was peeled off and a new you came out, one that felt more confident with herself. Hours went by and there were sounds of cheering coming from outside. Both of you stopped talking and looked at each other, wondering what was going on. So you opened the door and you both walked out the school doors. Just by lifting your heads up, you saw the Technodrome in flames and fell down in the horizon, meaning that it was the end of the invasion.

As happy as you were, you couldn't help but ask yourself one question.

**Who saved the city?**


	2. The Saviours

“You are all dismissed.” The principal's voice echoed through the megaphone in the damaged hallways of the school.

Students rushed out of the school, hurrying back to their domiciles after this frightening event. You and Michael looked for Jeremy and thankfully found him safe and sound. The three of you then began walking home however you told them you were going ahead to look for the red-head and they nodded, wishing you the best. Running through the halls, you spotted her and hugged her from behind which startled her.

“Hey!” You chirped.

“Hey yourself, Y/N!” April replied with a smile before turning around to face you.

“I couldn’t find you during that freaky invasion, what happened?” You asked, wondering if she would tell you the truth.

“I uh… I was able to hide long enough for it to pass.” She lied which disappointed you. You knew she got captured by the Kraang. However you didn’t know how she escaped nor how the city was saved. “Pretty weird huh? Aliens?”

“Yeah, definitely.” You nodded.

“Well, we should get back home, dad’s been pretty worried lately.”

“Yeah that’s understandable.” You agreed before following her out of the school.

Walking through the streets of New York, passing by people who were celebrating the end of the invasion, you both stopped at a bubble tea shop and ordered your favourite bubble tea. You both continued to make your way back home, all whilst looking around the vivid city. Grabbing your keys, you opened the door of the O’Neil apartment and went inside the dark room. You switched on the lights and April called out for her father, listening for any noises that could indicate his presence. Shuffling and footsteps could be heard from the rooms above and soon, Kirby came rushing down, engulfing you and April in a huge hug.

“Are you both okay?” He asked.

“We’re fine, dad.” April said. “Are you?”

“Could be better.” He sighed, letting go of you and April. “I had to cancel my night shift to make sure you were both okay.”

“It’s okay Kirby. You know us, we’re tough bitches.” You chuckled, wrapping your arm around April’s shoulders. The red head giggled at your profanity whilst Kirby rolled his eyes in amusement.

“You should both get to bed.” Kirby said, leading you both upstairs and you went to your room.

Placing your bag on the floor next to your desk, you fell forward on your bed, burying your face in the covers of the warm and soft fabric. The event replayed in your mind; the Kraang entering, the screams, the gun fires and explosions, everything echoed inside your mind. The thought of it happening again scared you, you didn’t want anyone hurt, much less your friends and family.

Speaking of family, you had been living with the O’Neils since you were 6 years old or so. Your father, as Kirby described, was a scientist and he had found breakthrough answers to impossible questions. However, apparently his constant research led him to his own death. He had disappeared from the world in an instant and no one was ever able to find him. Your father was close friends with Kirby and the red headed man was heartbroken when he couldn’t find his friend. Kirby made a promise to take care of you and your mother and although he had done a great job with you. Your mother had not been so lucky. Since you were born, she had struggled with terminal cancer and after 6 years of fighting, she had lost the battle. You remembered feeling so broken. Not only had you lost your father, you had lost your mother as well. And so, Kirby O’Neil had taken you under his wing and had cared for you for until now and the future. Kirby was like a father to you and you were like his daughter. April had become your sister. What was curious to you was why Kirby hadn’t officially adopted you yet. Y’know, the whole filling up papers and telling the government that you were his child now.

_Maybe he doesn’t have the money yet?_ You asked yourself.

A few weeks went by and things went back to normal, some students in school were still shaken up by the invasion but they still managed. Some of them went to you, proposing to build strong walls around the school in case of another invasion but you told them that the school didn’t have the money for that. However, fulfilling your role as President of the student council, you suggested the principle to put in place a training similar to the fire alarm and school shootings training and he approved it. As such, every now and then, a different alarm would ring and students would get into formation; hiding under desks, locking doors, flipping other desks to create a barrier and so on. You sent out a survey, asking for feedback about the new training and most were satisfied with it.

One night, you came home late from a council meeting on improving the school’s system. Walking down the streets, you noticed a large creature flying in the sky. It had a large head with veins popping out of it, the face of a bat and a smaller distorted but hairy body. It flew up and down, left and right before it flew off into the night sky, disappearing from your sight. A chill went up your spine but shrugged the feeling off, continuing your way to your family apartment. When you arrived, you noticed the uneasy silence in the room, feeling that something wasn’t right. Looking around the living room and the kitchen, you tried to find the source of the uneasy feeling but found nothing on this floor. You then went upstairs into Kirby’s room; no one. Walking to April’s room, you knocked, asking for entrance however there was no reply.

“April?” You called and you heard sniffing. “April? What’s wrong? Where’s Kirby?”

“Go away.” She croaked, clearly sounding upset.

“Wha- Why? April, what’s going on?”

“Just leave me alone!” With that yell, you decided to drop the subject.

You sighed, turning away from the door. A frown settled on your face as you entered your room, putting your bags on the ground and sitting on your bed, hunching over your knees, resting your arms on them and running your hands through your H/C hair. An idea then came into mind and you grabbed your phone, dialing Kirby’s phone number and calling him. However he didn’t answer. You tried again. Still no answer. You called his office. No answer either. Strange. He always answered his phone nowadays, he seemed paranoid ever since he was taken by the Kraang.

You remembered when April had told you about Kirby’s sudden disappearance. She had told you he had gone on a business trip and wouldn’t be back for a while. In the beginning, you had believed her, however one night a group of robots had ambushed you and had wanted to take you in. You had managed to escape from them and then had run into Jack Kurtzman who had taken you to his apartment and told you everything you had needed to know about the Kraang. At first, Jack had seemed skeptical to you, wondering how he had known so much about those aliens however you had soon warmed up to him as he was genuinely interested about the Kraang and so were you.

Which brought you to this point in your life; you knew about the Kraang and understood why April had left you out of it before you found out for yourself. From then on, April continued to lie about the Kraang and Kirby’s kidnapping which created a small wall between the two of you. Both of you had secrets; you knew about the Kraang, she didn’t know you knew; you had powers, she didn’t know; she always disappeared at night, you didn’t know where. It was saddening.

A few days had passed before you discovered something.

As you once again walked back to your apartment one late night, the same large mutant bat appeared on the horizon of the night sky. However you started noticing its figure getting larger and larger almost as if it was getting closer to you. Your eyes widened.

“Oh fuck.” You cursed before running away from the giant mutant bat chasing you, squealing as it did so.

Much to your dismay it outflew you and grabbed you with its arms, bringing you up high in the sky as you screamed in fear. Your hands gripped the red coloured furry arm that was keeping you from falling to your death and your legs were squirming around. After flying for a while, it flew down onto the roof of a building and let you go. It thankfully let you go at the height where your feet touched the ground. However due to the shock of this sudden event, you fell on your knees and the bat immediately crouched in front of you, as if checking you were okay. Taking deep breaths to avoid transforming, you lifted your head to look at the mutant and it… smiled at you. Now having a closer look at its face, it had a very familiar looking beard and its body was covered in orange-red fur, the exact same colour as April’s hair.

“What the fuck…?” You panted, moving your legs so that you were sitting cross-legged on the rooftop with your bag still hanging on your back.

The mutant did a low squeak before rubbing its large nose to your cheek affectionately. You cringed at the weird feeling but let it have its ways anyway, as long as it wasn’t hurting you. It pulled back and frowned, offended by your lack of reciprocation. You shrugged at it, looking at it with furrowed eyebrows. Its green eyes showed sadness, almost as if it was expecting something from you. Your heart sank but then focused back on looking at it, maybe trying to find out something for it. What mostly caught your attention was its beard and the fur colour. At that moment, after really thinking about it, you came into realization.

This was April’s father, Kirby.

“Kirby…?” You whispered and his head perked up, smiling at you and squealing happily, judging his face close to you and you hugged him. “Oh my God! I can’t believe it’s you! What happened to you? How are you… a mutant? What am I gonna tell April?” You rambled on but slowed down as your mind made a connection with something else.

April. She must have known this before you which would explain why she had cried the night you called her. He had turned into a mutant bat. But how? Seeing him like this brought you to tears. You really didn’t want your father figure to be like this. What about his workplace? What were you going to tell his colleagues? Jesus there was too much to think about.

Suddenly, Kirby roared and flew away, leaving you on the roof, frozen in place. Were you going to tell April about this? Were you going to reveal to her that you knew of the Kraang’s existence and her mutant father? Would that damage your close bond?

You didn’t know what to do and it stressed you out.

“Shit! Calm down, Y/N, calm down, relax.” You told yourself, taking in deep breaths until your heart rate returned to normal. “I’ll tell her when the time comes.”

With that, you were about to make your way down the fire escape of the roof but a sound caught your attention. It was the sound of metal clashing with metal and the familiar sound of the Kraang’s lasers shooting. Growing curious, you picked up a broken piece of glass and sliced it across your palm, hissing at the pain, however, the pain disappeared and your hair turned white. And so you shot the ground with ice blasts and soon enough, your feet were off the ground. You flew to where the sound was and when you looked down, you saw a mutant fighting a group of Kraang droids. Flying downwards, you came to a stop on the roof next to the fighting and watched the scene. The mutant was green with a shell on its back and carried weapons. It had a large belt, some knee and elbow pads and lots of gauze wrapped around its wrists and legs. What was most significant was its blue mask that covered its eyes. By its physique, you could tell the mutant was a turtle and a male. Calling him ‘he’ would be better now.

Once the droids were all destroyed, he strapped his two long katanas on his shell. This dude was definitely a ninja. You had watched enough Naruto to know that. You were amazed by how skilled he was at fighting. Your eyes were glued onto him which wasn’t a good idea because he suddenly turned his head to your direction. A small gasp escaped your lips and you quickly hid away from him.

_Please don’t see please don’t see me_! You thought, sweating.

After a few minutes, you turned around to look at the same place where the mutant was but to your horror.

He was gone.

_Oh shit I’m so fucked._ You panicked in your mind.

Before you could do anything else, you felt something sharp pressed against the center of your back. It was definitely the mutant turtle and he was going to kill you. You could start to feel your adrenaline rise and your eyes began to glow however you huffed out harshly to let the tension out before you were to transform. If he were to see you change, he would definitely attack.

“Who are you? Why were you watching me?” He asked, his voice low.

“H-Hey man, I swear I wasn’t trying to be creepy or anything!” You defended, your hands in the air and your back still facing the mutant.

“Why were you watching me? Are you a spy? Are you working with the Foot?” He asked again, pressing his katana lightly against your back some more. You gulped and took a deep breath.

“I swear on Iron Man’s arc reactor, I’m not working with the Hand.” You answered.

“The Foot.” He corrected you.

“Ah! Yes. Wrong series.” You cleared your throat. “I don’t know who the Foot is a-and I just happened to hear you fighting the Kraang. I got curious and found you. I really didn’t mean to scare you, I was just curious. I never knew there would be mutants in New York.”

The mutant’s grip on his long sword loosened and you felt the sharp tip disappear from your back. You sighed in relief.

“Turn around.” He ordered and you did almost too quickly.

Your eyes widened at the sight of the mutant up this close. You could see every detail on his plastron. The multiple scratches on them meant he had faced a lot of battles with sharp weapons. His skin was a beautiful shade of emerald and his blue mask complimented his gorgeous ocean blue eyes. He was taller than you by a few couple inches. His muscles were also impressing, he had a really nice build. The turtle looked uncomfortable at your intense staring and so you turned your head to the side with a blush, embarrassed by your action.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare… again.” You apologized, scratching the back of your neck.

He sighed. “It’s fine, I guess.”

There was a long pause and it was awkward. Both of you were standing there, shifting and occasionally looking back at each other. You decided to break this agonizing silence.

“So uh… what’s your name?” You asked, looking at his eyes.

“Leonardo.

“Huh, fancy.” You commented. “I’m Y/N.” You approached him and extended your hand out. His eyes glanced at your hand and then your eyes before grabbing your extended hand and shaking it. You couldn’t help but lightly smile in amazement at how large his hand was compared to yours.

“Hey, wouldn’t you have something to do with the Kraang invasion that happened a little while ago?” You asked. “Y’know, by any chance?”

“Oh yeah. My brothers and I saved the city from them.”

You gasped and grabbed both of his hands in yours. “You’re our saviour? You have brothers?” He nodded at your questions, blushing slightly at how you were holding his hands so close to you. However, you then let go of his hands and wrapped your arms around his neck, bringing him for a tight hug. “Thank you so much for what you’ve done for this city! For us! Thank you Leonardo!” He hesitantly hugged you back, not used to suddenly being hugged by a stranger.

“N-No problem. It’s what we do.” Leo started. “Also, Leo is fine.”

You broke away from the hug and smiled up at him. “Leo it is then.”

Leonardo then opened his mouth to say something but his phone rang. He took it out of his belt and answered the call. You noticed his phone was shaped as a turtle shell and you couldn’t help but giggle at the cute design. After talking for a while. He hung up the phone and turned to look at you.

“I gotta get back to my brothers.” He said and you nodded.

He was about to leave but you grabbed his hand and yanked him away from the ledge. He looked at you confusingly and his eyes widened when you took his shell-shaped phone. You typed something and then passed it back to him. He looked at the phone and saw that you had entered your number and your name with a heart next to it. His mouth twitched to form a smirk as he gazed back at you.

“Yeah I put hearts next to my name, so what?” You defended with your arms crossed. “I couldn’t let you leave knowing I might not see you again. New York is a big city y’know.”

“Heh, I’ll text you…”

“Good.”

“...Maybe.”

“What?!”

“I’m kidding, I'm kidding. I’ll definitely text you.” He finally said before he leapt off, landing on the roof of the other building and continuing to parkour away until you could no longer see his figure.

You sighed with a smile, suddenly feeling happy about making a new friend, one that wouldn’t mind your alter-ego and hell, maybe even put her into use. Walking back to your room, your mind went back to Leonardo. He really did seem like a decent guy and you really hoped you will get to see him again soon, you enjoyed his company very much and would love to get to know him and his brothers.

However you needed to wait until the time came for that to happen.


	3. Holbein Conspiracy

April had been slightly distant with you since that night it broke your heart. Maybe you should tell her? Maybe the reason she was being too distant to you was because you did something wrong? Nonetheless, you were going to do something about it, especially now since both of you knew about the turtles. Well, you only knew Leonardo.

Speaking of him, a few days have passed since you met and he texted you. It was a simple “hi” and “how are you” which was sweet of him.

Walking through the halls of Roosevelt, you made sure everything was in place and that everyone was safe. Your scanning eyes caught the ones of Gunter Holbein, the rich gay boy who wore pastel coloured clothes, star shaped sun-glasses and hooped earrings. He had short light blond hair with an undercut. You warned him numerous times to wear more appropriate clothes but he just never listened. Additionally, he often disrupted class, was behind his studies, slept in class and overall was troublesome. His father often was called to the principal's office because of his behaviour but it never seemed to change Gunter. If anything, it made his behaviour worse each time. He smirked upon seeing you and lightly bumped his female friend’s shoulders.

“Lookie here gals, it’s Pres.” He said slyly with his high and nasal-like voice. The girls giggled and whispered to each other.

“Gunter, seriously? What did I say about you wearing these kinds of clothes?” You sternly asked, furrowing your eyebrows at him. He lowered his glasses with his finger, slightly bent down to meet your gaze.

“Little foggy there but what I do remember is me not giving a damn.” He replied and you sighed.

“You won’t give up, will you? Keeping up with this attitude of yours?”

“Never.”

“Ugh, fine. I’ll leave you to your demise.” You said coldly, your E/C eyes briefly turning light blue for a second before walking past the boy who looked back at you in shock.

Arriving at your locker, you opened it and picked up your necessary books for the next class. You closed it and was about to make your way to your class but a hard chest blocked your way and you bumped against it. Looking up, you saw a familiar dark coloured face with dark brown shaved hair.

“Jake Dillinger!” You said, his hands on your shoulders to prevent you from falling backwards.

“In the flesh.” He replied with a smile. “Ready to head to Lang and Lit?”

“Oh right yeah I’m ready.”

“C’mon, let’s head there together.” He suggested before sliding his arm around your shoulders and guiding you to your english class. He sat next to you in English class along with Rich Goranski, the famous dynamic duo.

Class went on as usual, teacher giving assignments, working in groups, analysing texts, Jake staring at you.

Ah, yes.

Jake staring at you.

Jake, the popular guy that a large majority of the girls in the school drool over, had a crush on you. How did you know? Well, you weren’t an idiot. You saw every single hint he gave about him liking you. However you weren’t interested in him that way, you were too busy running the school council. You appreciated him liking you that way, you were popular but no one hung out with you so the last thing you expected was for a guy to romantically like you, much less a popular guy. He would try and get you to like him as well; he would show you all his achievements, brag about them and his success and frankly, that was made him unattractive to you. His big ego. Yes, he was nice big his ego was too high for your standards.

School finally ended and you made your way back home whilst April stayed for a little longer to complete an assignment. Cars drove by, people walked, people talked, it was a busy day for New Yorkers. Spotting your favorite bubble tea shop, you ordered your usual drink and continued your way back home. Suddenly, your phone rang and you took it out to look at the caller and saw it was none other than your turtle friend, Leo. You answered the call with a smile resting on your lips.

“Hey Leo, what’s up?”

“Hey Y/N, we need your help on something.” He replied.

“Alright, shoot.”

“Do you know anyone in your school with the last name Holbein?”

“Yeah, Gunter Holbein, I know him. Why?”

“We think his father, Walter Holbein, might be up to something and we need your help to investigate.”

“Well, what do you want me to do?”

“Get to Holbein’s house and find anything that seems suspicious, that could indicate that he’s working with the Kraang.” A new voice, a slightly higher one, instructed.

“Hmm… that will be difficult. Gunter and I aren’t exactly friends. Going to his place would be difficult.” You replied.

“Oh! You can be his friend then! Get closer with him!” Another voice, a young, cheerful one suddenly spoke enthusiastically.

“Leo, am I in speaker?” You asked.

“Uh yeah. Sorry, should’ve warned you.” Leo apologized.

“It’s okay. I guess I’ll see what I can do.” You said. “Do you really think his dad is working with the Kraang?”

“It’s possible. Whilst fighting some droids, they mentioned something about Dr. Holbein and the perfection of the mutagen.” The smart voice explained.

“Why would he do that?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out.” Leo finally spoke. “And that’s when you come in, Y/N.”

“Can we really trust her Leo?” A rougher voice asked.

“Yes, Raph, I’m sure.”

“She’s April’s adopted sister, dude. AND the president!” The cheerful one exclaimed.

“President of the school council, Mikey.” The smart voice corrected.

“Anyway, thanks for your help, we really appreciate it. Text me if you find anything, okay?” Leo said.

“Yeah, no problem. See you.” You finished before ending the call. Thankfully, by the time you finished speaking, you reached your apartment door.

Opening the door, you went in, closed the door behind you and flopped on the family couch. You were tired. President of the school council was not easy and you had been in that same position for 3 years. You sighed; you had to find some way to let Gunter bring you to his domicile so you could carry out your task. Maybe there was a group project that the both of you were in? That said, Ms Gubbles, your history teacher, did warn you of an upcoming group project and Gunter was in your class so that was an opportunity. Sounded like a plan.

And so you followed your plan accordingly. The next day, your very first period was history and you sat in your normal seat. Ms. Gubbles spoke about the group project and asked the studentS whether they choose their own groups or she picks them herself. Immediately, you shot off your seat and claimed that the students choose their groups themselves and you pointed towards Gunter, saying that he was going to be in your group. Everyone’s eyes widened at your sudden burst but they shrugged it off. Gunter groaned and rested his head against the table, basically showing that he didn’t want to be with you.

As such, everyone got in their groups and worked on the project. Jeremy had joined you and Gunter which made you feel less pressured as you two were friends. After a few minutes of discussing who does what, Gunter turned to you, resting his elbow against the table whilst holding his chin.

“So like, why did you want me in your group so badly?” He asked, eyeing you suspiciously. Your eyes glanced at him for a brief second before continuing your typing.

“Well, y’know, I thought we got off on the wrong foot yesterday so I thought we could start over.” You replied.

“But why, though?”

“Because, despite your behaviour in school, I know deep down you’re not so bad.”

Your reply seemingly shocked him as his eyes widened slightly and he looked down for a brief second with a small frown on his face. Almost as if your response was something he hadn’t expected or even as if it was something no one had ever told him before. Either way, he huffed out and went to work, surprisingly. The three of you continued to discuss the project until class was over and the teacher dismissed everyone. You and Jeremy were the last ones to leave since you had a lot to pack up. Jeremy then asked you a question. He asked where you were during the invasion and you replied that you were hiding in the janitor’s closet with Michael and he nodded at your response. However, you couldn’t help but notice his suspicious gaze over you, as if trying to figure you out. Maybe he suspected you to be his saviour, Winter? He wasn’t wrong, but you didn’t want anyone finding out about your alter ego.

The day went by as usual however you approached Gunter and told him that they needed to work on the history group project ASAP. Gunter was obviously annoyed by your mention of the project but he complied anyway and suggested that you wait for him after school so that you could both go to his house to work. You were surprised that he complied so easily without much trouble, maybe your comment about him not being so bad really marked him. Waiting for him at the entrance of the school, you texted Leo, telling him that the plan was in action. Gunter soon got out with some of his entourage and you all walked in the same direction. One by one, his entourage got smaller and smaller as they parted their own way back home until it was just you and him. The walk was silent, none of you knowing what to say. Thankfully, you soon arrived to his house and your jaw dropped as you saw the large building to which Gunter smirked at. You both went in and you were greeted by his scientist-engineer of a father, Walter Holbein. Whilst shaking his large hand, you felt something was off about him, something felt evil.

Gunter guided you to his room and you were surprised to see it wasn’t as bright as you thought it would be. The walls were a light beige colour and the mahogany floor had a layer of lament and varnish, making it look shiny and smooth. On your right was a queen sized bed with a white cover that had a large rose imprinted on it. Looking up, the ceiling was covered in beautiful golden mandalas and on every top corner of the walls had fairy lights, almost making the room look like a cavern of fairies. In the center of the ceiling was the main lamp dangling with crystals hanging on the bottom. Both of you walked over to his large desk where he had his iMac and keyboard. The desk was surprisingly neat too. Everything about this room was surprising. Right next to the desk was a big book shelf with hundreds of books from all different kinds of genres. Gunter noticed you looking at the shelf and sighed.

“They’re not all mine. Most belong to my dad.” He said before huffing out. “Now are you gonna put that ass of yours on the chair or not?”

You turned to him, surprised by his sudden change in behaviour. He was seemingly embarrassed at your fascination with his room. Tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear, you sat down on the chair in front of the large desk and took out your computer, turning it on and opening the window with the PowerPoint presentation. He did the same and both of you went to work. Occasionally, he would look at his phone as he would get multiple texts from people which internally made you jealous because whilst he gets tons of notifications, you get none. That train of thought was interrupted when you felt your phone make a short vibration, meaning you had received a notification. Turning on your phone, you saw it was from Leo.

_Are you at his place?_

_Yeah, I’ll tell him I need to use the bathroom, then I’ll investigate._ You texted back.

“Uh hey Gunter?” You called, looking over at the boy who turned to you and gave you bored eyes.

“Yeah?” He replied, his hand on his cheek and his elbow on the table.

“I need to use the bathroom, where is it?”

“End of the hallway on the left.”

“Thanks.”

Taking your phone with you, you exited his room and went down the long fancy hallway until you suddenly got an eerie feeling from a door that wasn’t the bathroom. Stopping in your tracks, you turned towards the eerie door and saw there was a sign.

“**Mr/Mrs Holbein**”

‘That must be his room!’ You thought before looking left and right, making sure that no one was watching and carefully twisted the doorknob, silently opening the door.

You slowly peeked your head inside and noticed the room was a slightly darker colour than Gunter’s. The walls were a blue-grey shade with multiple paintings of people’s portraits hanging on the wall. The bed was white and two black nightstands with a white lamp sitting on them were right next to both sides of the bed. Slowly stepping in, you closed the door behind you and looked around. There was also a big shelf filled with books, much like in Gunter’s room. Your eyes briefly glowed before switching back to E/C after passing his desk. Bingo.

Glancing over the large black desk, you scanned anything that seemed suspicious. Papers, files, pens, pencils, blueprints, more blueprints, chemical formulas. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for you. It was just the regular workspace of a scientist. That was, until you noticed the drawers. Opening them, you continued to look around but found nothing. Weird. Why did Winter warn you of something? You took a closer look at the desk, running your fingers across the hard surface. Again, nothing. Placing your fingers under the desk, that was when you felt the same shiver run down your spine along with your eyes glowing for a split second. Your fingers grazed upon some kind of lever and you pulled it. A key suddenly popped out of the desk and landed on the floor with a small clang sound. You picked it up and looked around the desk for some kind of keyhole but found nothing. That was when you thought, where would an evil mastermind hide his evil lair? Your eyes immediately went to the bookshelf.

What if?

Scanning the bookshelf, you pushed some books aside to look for some kind of keyhole but found nothing. That is, until on the side of the shelf, you finally found it and inserted the key, turning it to the side until you heard a click. The shelf moved to the side and a staircase leading down was apparent to you. Your breath hitched upon looking at the creepy staircase.

_Hell no._ You thought.

Quickly shaking your head, you twisted the key, closing the door to the staircase and took the key, putting it in your pocket. Taking deep breaths, you paced around the room, feeling distraught by the fact that Walter could actually be an evil mastermind. You quickly took out your phone, texting Leo before walking out of the eerie room.

_Leo, I found something that you need to see._


	4. Mutagen Man Unleashed

Later that night, you and Leo met up on your rooftop to discuss what you saw. Secretly, you wished he brought his brothers, they sounded nice but you understood his wariness. He was the leader, he had to protect them, therefore he had to be wary of people. Both of you sat on the ledge of the roof.

“So? What did you find?” Leo asked, his blue eyes piercing yours.

“Okay so I got super eerie vibes in Walter’s room, like, evil scientist kind of eerie. I went through his stuff and found this weird-looking key.” You explained as you took out the key and placed it on his large green hand. He lifted it up to his face to get a closer look at it before lowering it. “I used it on the big bookshelf and it opened to reveal a secret passage leading down.”

“Woah, creepy. Did you go inside?”

“Hell naw, man! I’m too young and beautiful to die.” You replied with a hand on your chest..

“Okay okay!” He chuckled “Besides, it could’ve been dangerous. If you’re going to go down there, I’ll come with you.”

A blush crept its way on your cheeks, feeling moved by his protective motive.You nodded at him and he secured the key on his belt. “Okay then. But then how will you come inside the house without being seen?” He smirked at that.

“I’m a ninja, Y/N, I can never be seen.” He replied with a wink.

_Oh God. That wink._

You giggled and lightly punched his shoulder, making him chuckle too. Silence fell between the two of you after that, both of you looking out at the beautiful city lights that shone in the dark night. A cold breeze sent shivers down Leo’s spine, feeling cold. He wrapped his arms around himself to try and warm himself up and looked over at you. He raised a brow at how unfazed you were by the cold, especially since you were wearing a sleeveless F/C shirt with a turtleneck, dark blue jeans and F/C vans.

“Aren’t you cold?” He asked.

“Nope! I’m immune to the cold. Put me in the freezer and I would be just fine.” You replied with a cheeky smile, your eyes locking with his.

“How is that possible? Is it… your powers?”

“Yeah.”

“What else can you do?”

You gave him a surprised look. He was interested in your powers? Well, he was the only person to know about them after all. That and he was a mutant, naturally he would be curious about humans or in your case, a powered human.

“Well uh… I can create ice constructs like spikes, shields and all. I can create a huge wave of mist from my body, surf on ice bridges, project fog and create a layer of ice on pretty much anything.” You replied and his eyes widened.

“Woah, you can do a lot of things.”

“Eh. I haven’t been able to use them much, though. The only time I did was when the Kraang attacked the school and I saved my friend from being shot. It was a close call. Oh and when I had to defend myself from April’s mutant bat of a dad.”

Leo cringed at the mention of April’s father; he still felt guilty for what happened. You noticed his expression and put a hand on his shoulder softly, giving him a warm smile.

“Hey, it’s okay. Accidents happen. I’m not mad at you.” You said.

“R-Right.” His cheeks felt warmer at your soft touch and he could feel his heart race. “A-Anyway, I think I better head back, my brothers might be wondering where I am.”

Your hand retracted itself from his shoulder and went on your lap, eyes avoiding his blue ones. He got up from his sitting position and looked down at you, extending his hand out for you to take. You smiled at him and gladly took his hand. However you were surprised by his inhumane strength as you were practically yanked up on your feet, losing your balance and putting your hands on his plastron to regain it. His hands were on your shoulders to keep you steady. Looking up at his ocean blue eyes, you felt like you lost your breath, you couldn’t speak, you couldn’t move, you felt light-weighted as if you were floating in space.

“Uh… Y/N? You uh… are you okay?” He asked, feeling uncomfortable by your intense staring. His soothing voice snapped you out and your face went red.

“O-Oh my God! I’m so sorry! I-I don’t know what came over me!” You stuttered, backing away from the blue-masked turtle. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, his head facing down but his eyes still looking at yours.

“I-t’s okay.” He reassured. “I’ll head off now. See you… whenever you’re ready to infiltrate Holbein’s place.”

“Yeah. I’ll text you.”

With that, he ran off, jumping from building to building back to the lair. You looked at the direction where he ran off and smiled, a blush forming on your cheeks before your phone rang. Taking the device from your pocket, you looked at the ID to see it was Michael. You had forgotten that he had given you his number when you were both stuck in the janitor’s closet. You answered the phone.

“Yo Y/N!”

“Hey Michael, what’s up? Why’re you calling me this time?”

“I just thought you could come over to my place to play Apocalypse of the damned. Jeremy’s here too! I also got tons of snacks for us to dig in.”

You looked at your watch, it was 9:50 pm. Not too late. It wouldn’t hurt to play some video games to distract yourself.

“Alright, I’ll come over.” You said as you heard the two boys on the other side of the line cheer. Chuckling, you hung up the call and climbed down the fire escape and entered your room through your glass door.

You picked up a small bag and put your wallet, your power bank with a charging cable, a water bottle and your phone. Putting your phone in your back pocket was not a good idea, especially at night in New York. You closed the door behind you as you exited your room and then the apartment, making sure to lock the door behind you. There you were, walking down the streets of the Big Apple to Michael’s house which thankfully wasn’t too far away from your domicile. As you made your way, you heard a strange noise. One that came from some giant creature stomping its way towards you from behind. And that was when you heard it.

“April!!” A distorted voice called.

Your eyes glowed for a brief second before you whipped your head around to come face to face with a giant container with large green acid arms and legs and what seems to be a brain, organs and eyes inside the container that was filled with some translucent green goo. Its appearance made you want to puke by how disgusting it looked, it was repulsive even. Its eyes looked into yours, as if looking for something, or someone.

“April… ‘O’Neil?” It asked.

“No…” You breathed out. “I-I’m not… April.”

The monster let out a frustrated grunt before pulling out a purple picture frame with a photo of April on the swing with a mutant turtle that wasn’t Leo; he was taller, thinner, had a purple mask and more importantly, he had a gap on this set of teeth.

“Where is April ‘O’Neil?” It asked and you felt like you couldn’t speak. You were terrified. The monster put its large hands on your shoulders and shook you to snap you out. “Where is April?!” It yelled and on cue, you transformed. Your E/C eyes glowed brightly and your H/C turned white. Instinctively, you placed your hands on top of the creature’s ones and froze them, making it yell out and pull away from you. At that moment, you clenched your fists and fog came out of your body, covering your entire surrounding by white fog and giving you the chance to flee.

You ran away from the monster as fast as you could until you saw an alley and ran through there. Looking back, your legs kept moving forward however you collided with someone at the end of the alley. The body that you collided with fell on the floor whilst you practically flew over and landed on your side, your head hitting the hard ground. Both you and the person groaned as you got up.

“Jesus, watch where you’re going!” The person scolded however you recognized the person to be April. A boy with black hair with a black bandana wrapped around his head, a black hoodie with orange spray paint stains on it, black jeans and black converse was next to her and helping her up. You noticed he had a broken nose and a large gap in his teeth.

“April…” You huffed, looking at her. However she glared back at you, not recognizing you.

“Who the heck are you? How do you know my name?” She asked in a warning tone.

“I’m uh… Winter.” You replied, getting up on your feet and wiping the blood off your hairline. “Listen, there’s a monster out there hunting you down-”

“You mean that crazy tin can dude with acid hands?” The boy asked.

“You already had an encounter with it?”

“Heck yeah!”

“We managed to escape from it.” April added.

“It’s still after you.”

“Shit.” She cursed before she turned towards the boy. “Casey, you should probably go inside.”

“So then when’s our next date?” Casey asked April with a smirk, making your eyes go wide. April was dating him.

“Date? So that’s what you call our study sessions?” She inquired and you rolled your eyes at this flirting scene. Grazing your fingers over your bruise, you no longer felt it. It must have closed up.

Whilst they were talking, you noticed the monster at the other end of the alley where you had run from and running towards you. Your eyes glowed for a brief second, feeling the adrenaline rush inside your veins. You spread your legs bent down slightly, getting into a fighting position. However you were interrupted when four figures jumped down and landed in front of you. Four mutant turtles that is, one of them being Leo. You felt calmer after seeing your friend and a smile crept its way onto your lips. Leo ordered his brothers to keep the monster, who’s name was “Timothy”, in the alley to avoid being seen by Casey.

“Leo!” You called, walking up to him and placing a hand on his toned shoulder. He looked back at you, surprised to see you.

“Y/N?” He replied.

“Oh! Dudes it’s the President!” The turtle with the orange mask squealed.

“For the last time, Mikey, she’s not the-” The one with the purple mask started but was interrupted when Timothy swung his fist on the ground. Thankfully the brothers moved out of the way with Leo grabbing your waist and pulled you along with him.

“Stay here. We’ll take care of him.” Leo whispered in your ear which sent shivers down your spine and you nodded, staying close to the alley wall while the boys fought Timothy.

You watched as they took out their weapons, clashing them against the metal container all while pulling him away from the end of the alley where he could be seen. The fight went on for a while and they were nowhere from beating him. You overheard the purple masked turtle warn the turtles not to hurt Timothy but the other brothers protested. The tall turtle was knocked to the ground and Leo went to his side, explaining to him that Timothy was gone and they had no choice but to finish him. The turtle, who you heard his name was Donnie, told Leo that he wouldn’t be able to find a retro mutagen for your father.

Donnie then had an idea and told his brothers something about “misdirection” and “camouflage” and almost like a flash, the turtles disappeared. Timothy looked around, confused by the turtle’s disappearance but ignored it and went towards the end of the alley. However ninja stars were thrown at him, frustrating him and therefore making him turn around. Trash was thrown from the shadows to keep confusing the monster and then you looked up towards the roof to see three shadows and you smiled, knowing it was the turtles. Once Timothy was in the middle, two of the turtles dived down and struck him from both sides before jumping back into the shadows. Each of the brothers teasingly called out to Timothy, leading him to punch garbage bags and trash cans. This continued until his eyes landed on yours and he growled, stomping towards you.

By reflex, you extended your hand out and an ice blast shot through your palm, hitting Timothy and pushing him back onto the wall, creating a layer of ice around him and the wall. You lowered your hand and walked closer to Timothy to get a better look at him however he suddenly broke free and punched your gut, sending you towards the wall. Your back hit the opposite wall and you fell on the floor facing down.

“Y/N!” Leo called and jumped down to your side, placing his hand on your shoulder and the other on your back.

“Timothy look!” Another voice called, Donnie’s. “Mutagen! Come and get some!” He taunted as he lifted a can of mutagen above his head.

Timothy punched Donnie aside, grabbed the mutagen and drank it as if he had not drunk in years. Donnie frowned sadly whilst the other gaspd. Suddenly, Timothy began freezing up from the inside, all the liquid inside and outside the container hardening until nothing moved. However he suddenly attempted to grab Donnie but failed as he indefinitely couldn’t move. His brothers rooted for the success but Donnie sighed sadly and hoped that he would one day cure him. The sound of your groaning interrupted his train of thought and he rushed over to you.

“Y/N! Are you okay? How bad is it?” Leo asked in a worried tone. Placing your palms on the ground, you lifted yourself up for a second so you could lean against him on your side. His arm wrapped itself around your waist and the other around your neck, keeping your head up. Donnie came to your side and quickly looked over your body.

“Not the worst hit I got…” You huffed. “I’ll be okay… I just… need time.”

“What are you talking about? You just got punched and sent flying against the wall! You need medical attention immediately!” Donnie protested but you placed your hand on his plastron.

“Uh about that...” You said. “Look.” Reaching to the bottom of your shirt, you lift it up halfway to reveal a large blue, purple bruise however it was ever so slowly shrinking. The turtles gave you weird looks.

“Accelerated healing factor.” Donnie mumbled and you nodded.

“Woah! That’s so cool!” The orange masked turtle exclaimed with a wide smile. “So are you called Y/N in this form?”

“Uh… not really. I like to call this form Winter.” You replied, getting comfortable in your current position, leaning against Leo with him cradling you in his strong arms.

“Hmm… Winter… Good choice, good choice. You know what I would go for?” He questioned with a smirk whilst you all looked at him curiously. “Ice Queen!”

“Mikey-” Leo started but you put your hand up to him, motioning him to stop.

“I like it. Ice Queen. Queen of the ice. Sounds nice.” You said as your voice got softer and softer with each word you were saying. “I’m feeling really tired.” The adrenaline left your veins and your eyes returned to normal and your hair turned back to H/C. The brothers softly gasped in awe, surprised to see your transformation.

“Your fast healing factor must be draining you, especially with a wound this big.” Donnie concluded.

“I’ll bring her home.” Leo stated as he stood up with you in his arms, carrying you bridal style.

“You did good.” The red masked turtle commented with his arms crossed.

“Thanks. Same to you.” You replied with a tired smile and he looked away.

“I’ll join you back in the lair later, then we’ll talk about Holbein.” Leo instructed before he jumped from balcony to balcony and then landed on the roof. He looked over at you to make sure you were okay and you nodded at him, giving him a weak smile, barely able to keep your eyes open.

With that, he leapt off, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, parkouring his way towards your family apartment. The lights of the city were colourful and they reflected on Leo, bringing out his stunning sapphire blue eyes and his gorgeous emerald green skin that was practically glowing in your eyes. His eyes were something you could never get over. They were always so full of emotion, they reflected his soul in every way. Maybe that was why you always got so lost in them, they always looked warm and it was the kind of warmth you’ve been missing for years. It had only been days since you’ve met the leader and yet he filled your life with that much needed warmth. You snuggled closer to his chest, craving more of this feeling. He noticed this and lightly smiled, feeling glad that you were getting comfortable with him. Most humans would never be so close to him but somehow, you never hesitated with him which sometimes would startle him since he had never had anyone else other than his family and April. Socialising and interacting with strangers was definitely not his forte.

The soothing moment came to an end as he arrived at your destination. He stepped on your balcony and gently pushed the glass door to the side, entering your room. Carefully moving around, he placed you on your bed. He removed your shoes, putting them in front of the door and then walked back to you, adjusting the blanket so that it was covering your body. Your eyes were closed and you were breathing steadily; you were asleep. The leader smiled to himself, amazed by how lucky he was to have met you and befriend you. Leo brushed a strand of hair out of your fair, tucking it behind your ear and kept his hand on your face. He took a very close look at every single feature on your face and the closer he looked, the more he lingered. He didn’t know why but he felt something with you. A strong connection. He almost could see a thin red string attached on both of your fingers and connecting you both together.

‘No.’ He thought to himself, looking away from you.

With a last glance at your face, he stood up and walked to the glass door, sliding it open and exiting your room, closing the door behind him.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**So I was wondering...**

**My art commissions aren't exactly doing that well and so I thought maybe I could do writing commissions? My writing is more popular than my art so maybe I'll have more luck here.**

**Well? What do you guys think? **

**Should I open writing commissions? Would you guys be willing to pay for a one shot written by me? **


	5. The Plot Thickens

You woke up to the sound of your alarm blaring in your ears, immediately waking you up, shooting your body upwards with a soft gasp leaving your lips. You groaned, placing your hand on your wound that was still in the process of recovering. Thankfully, it had become very small but it still hurt you. Flipping your legs over the edge of the bed, you stretched your body and got up, grabbing a shirt, pants, socks and a jacket of your choice from your closet, went to the bathroom and changed. Once you were done, you went downstairs with your bag to the kitchen and found April eating her breakfast alone. You two made eye contact but she broke it and looked down at her food, focusing back on eating.

“Good morning.” You greeted softly with a smile. “Did you hear about that goo monster last night?”

“Oh, uh yeah.” She replied, still not making eye contact with you.

“Witnesses say it was looking for you. Did you come into contact with it?”

“Yeah but someone helped me. Some girl with white hair and ice powers.”

“That’s good to know… What do you think about her?” You asked as you started to feel nervous. She finally looked up at you and raised a brow, wondering why you were asking that question.

“She’s okay I guess. I didn’t get the chance to know her before I had to leave.” Relief washed over you as she said that, at least she didn’t hate your alter ego.

“That’s good. It’s always nice to have someone watch your back huh?” April seemingly lowered her head as you said that and a guilty expression rested on her face. You grew concerned and approached her.

“April, I can’t help but notice you’ve been distant lately. Is everything okay?” You asked in a soft tone.

April huffed, putting her plate in the sink and slid her backpack over her shoulders. “I’ll tell you later. I’ll go ahead to school. See you.” She replied monotonously before she left the room. You sighed, going to the fridge and getting out your pre-made sandwich. You sat on the table and ate in silence. However it was broken as your phone rang and you picked it up to hear Michael’s voice. He asked you where you were last night and you responded that you ran into the goo monster and that it attacked you so you had to go to the hospital to recover. He asked you if you were okay and you reassured him that you were fine. He then wondered if you wanted anything at 7-11 since he was going there and you politely denied. With that, Michael ended the call just as you finished your food and left the room.

School went by as usual, some classes were interesting, others were less and some were extremely boring but it was nothing new. However, what was new and odd was Gunter coming up to you and asking you to come by his house to continue working on the project. He even asked Jeremy. Both of you accepted since you did need to finish the project and you had to work together. And so, the three of you went to his mansion together. The walk was calm and you talked about some topics you all knew in common which was mostly school work, teachers and gossip. It was nice.

You all arrived and you noticed Jeremy looking at the building in awe which made you smirk before going inside with Gunter. He led you all to his room but he didn’t go in. You gave him a questioning look, asking him where he was going and he replied that he was going to bring you drinks before he went down. You and Jeremy settled down on the table, got your things out and waited for the blond boy. A few minutes later, he came back with three cups of water and distributed them to you, Jeremy and himself. You gulped down the liquid, feeling the fresh water filling your throat with europhea; you were more thirsty that you had thought. Then you all got to work. 5 minutes went by and you saw Jeremy slowly lower his eyelids and his head. He tried to lift his head up and open his eyes but his tiredness took over and his head landed on the table.

“Damn, he must be very tired to fall asleep like that.” You commented, poking the boy.

“Yeah. It’s been a long week. How’re you? Feeling tired too?” Gunter asked.

“Eh, a bit. But I’ll be fine.” You reassured with a smile. “What should we do with him?”

“Leave him.” He replied, getting up from his chair.

“Okay then.” You said before you went back to work.

Minutes went by and you started to feel unusually tired, you felt your head was much heavier, as if it was going to drop on the table as well. You resisted, trying to keep it up so you got up from your seat and walked around the room, trying to wear out the overwhelming tiredness. Gunter asked you what the problem was and you answered that you needed to resist the urge to fall asleep. However the tiredness took over; your knees weakened and dropped to the floor, then your chest felt too heavy and you fell forward, hitting the side of your face on the carpeted floor. Then, your eyes closed and everything went black.

What felt like hours went by before your eyes slowly opened. Feeling your body little by little, you placed your hands on the ground only to feel a soft texture. You turned your head to see that you were laying on Gunter’s bed with him texting on his phone with a small smile on his face. He noticed you and put his phone away, walking over to you and crossing his arms.

“You got some balls to fall asleep like that. I had to finish all the work.” He sassed.

“There wasn't much left to do anyway.” You replied. “Where’s Jeremy?”

“He went home early since he finished his part of the work.”

You couldn’t help but feel like something wasn’t right. Something was wrong but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it so you decided to ignore it.

“Anyway, you can get your ass home now. Work’s all done.”

“Thanks for laying me on your bed.” You thanked him with a smile and he seemed taken aback by your kindness, not expecting it.

“Whatever. Just don’t randomly fall asleep like that again!”

You grabbed your things and left the room. Suddenly, your eyes briefly glowed again, signaling you of potential danger and your eyes immediately darted towards Walter’s room. There was definitely something going inside but without the key and not knowing the code, you had no access to the secret room. Gulping down, you walked away from the room, going down the long staircase until you arrived at the main entrance and left.

Looking up, you saw it was nighttime. You had been out for too long, April might be wondering where you were. Pulling your bag higher to your shoulders, you started walking your way back but soon felt it was too quiet so you took out your phone and dialed Leonardo’s number. You felt something was wrong and you had to tell him. After a couple of rings, he finally answered.

“Hey Y/N, what’s up?” He asked, panting as if out of breath.

“Woah are you okay?” You asked.

“Yeah no problem. Footbots went after April and we were luckily able to save her.”

“Oh shit, is she okay? Are you okay?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.” He reassured before you heard him address someone else in the background for a few seconds before he spoke to you again. “Hey is it okay if I take you to our place? There’s something we need to discuss with you.”

“Sure but where do I go?”

“I’ll pick you up. Where are you right now?”

You looked around until you spotted the street name. “41 Broad street.”

“Alright, stay put, I’m coming.” he said before he ended the call.

Him saying “I’m coming” somehow made your heart flutter. Imagine a situation where you were in danger and Leo was trying to get to you, shouting those words as he desperately tried to save you. Not that you wanted to be in danger but you imagining him saving you from danger made you blush. You shook your head, snapping out of your dream. A few minutes went by and you heard a whisper below you. You looked on the floor in front of you and saw the manhole cover was slightly open and Leo’s eyes could be seen. A smile crept on your face once you made eye contact with him.

“Follow me.” He instructed and slid the cover more on the side so you could climb down. “Hope you don’t mind, I live in the sewers.”

“It’s okay. I get it. It’s not like giant mutant ninja turtles could chill in a fancy house in the streets of New York.” You remarked which made him chuckle.

You approached the cover, looked around and then climbed down, careful not to slip. However, luck wasn’t on your side as your foot slipped and with your bag weighing you down, your hands let go of the bars and you fell back, letting out a yelp. Thankfully, you felt strong arms catch you before you hit the wet and dirty ground. Leo gave you a smile and you smiled back, thanking him but he didn’t let you go. Instead, he began running through the dark sewers with you in his arms, carrying you bridal style. Your arms wrapped itself around his neck and he tightened his grip around your body, assuring you that you were going to be okay.

After a while of running and parkouring, you made it to the entrance of his domicile. It overall looked more like a lair and it seemed pretty cozy. Leo put you down and you walked through the turnstile and walked down the steps. You looked around in awe, seeing the large square couch in the center of the, what you assumed to be, living room with a TV in the corner. To your left, you saw a large metal door and on your right, there was a waterway entrance with a tire swing above it. In front of you, further away was a short hallway with a few doors which you could only guess were their rooms.

“Woah…” You gasped. “This place is so nice.”

“Thank you.” Leo said.

After saying that, you heard a squeal and you were tackled down with a bear hug from none other than the orange-masked turtle himself. You giggled and hugged him back whilst Leo scolded him. Eventually he let you go and helped you up to your feet, smiling brightly at you.

“It’s so great to see you again!” He exclaimed.

“Likewise! I didn’t catch your name since the last time I saw you, I was practically falling asleep.” You said.

“Oh! I’m Michelangelo, the youngest and the most fun in the bunch.” He replied, putting his hands on his hips at his claims which made you giggle. “My brothers call me Mikey though.”

“Anyway, Donnie needs you in his lab.” Leo interrupted.

“Donnie’s your brother with the purple mask right?” You asked Leo and he nodded.

“Leo could I give her a tour of our lair? Please please please!” Mikey begged, showing his puppy dog eyes at his older sibling until he sighed.

“Fine.” Leo gave in which made Mikey jump in joy.

“What’s with all the shouting?!” A gruff voice yelled out from the large metal door that was now open. The red masked turtle held the door open and looked at you. “Oh. I see why. C’mon Frosty, get over here.”

You gave Leo a look of “what the hell” and he shrugged before he led you to the room. Once inside, you saw it was a lab with lots of chemicals, gadgets and gizmos scattered around. In the back, you saw Donnie typing away on his computer but stopped once he saw you.

“Y/N, right?” He asked and you nodded before he motioned you to look at his screen. You, Leo and Mikey walked over to his desk and you looked at his screen to see multiple windows open with documents written in some alien language. You took off your bag and put in on the floor, leaning against the table as you listened to the tall turtle. “The Kraang communication orb rang and I was able to translate whatever message came across and found this.” He explained as he clicked on a file which showed a newspaper article about the SQUIP. “They were looking into an article dated just a year ago about a teenager in Roosevelt High nearly destroying the school with this supercomputer called the SQUIP. Could you tell us more about it?”

“Uh yeah. Basically, this guy, Jeremy, was a loser; he got pushed around and no one paid attention to him. Then, one of the popular guys, Rich, told him about this pill that would make him cool called the Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor or for short, the SQUIP. After that, he became kind of a jerk but he was included in the popular group. But he found out that the SQUIP wanted to control the entire school for its own personal use and he managed to do so for a few minutes during our school play. Thankfully, he managed to deactivate it and everyone was safe.” You explained.

“Woah, that’s the kind of story that you would find in a comic book!” Mikey commented.

“Is the SQUIP completely gone?” Leo asked.

“I don’t know. Jeremy never mentioned it again. It kind of became a taboo topic now.” You replied.

“Then your friend might be in danger, Y/N.” Donnie spoke, looking at you.

“What? How?”

Donnie clicked and typed things on his computer until another file popped up with the words “Project SQUIP” written in big on the first page. Your eyes widened in fear.

“The Kraang wants to experiment with the SQUIP. They think it could help them create mind control devices for their invasion.” He finished.

Your heart stopped for a few seconds, feeling sick upon realizing something. Immediately, you took out your phone and dialed Jeremy’s number that Michael had given you and the call went directly to voicemail. Something wasn’t right. If there was one thing Michael told you was that Jeremy always answered his phone. That was when it struck you. In Gunter’s place, when you and Jeremy had gone there to study, he had given you both a cup of water and minutes after, you both had fallen asleep and when you had woken up, Jeremy was gone. Moreover, Walter was working with the Kraang and once your mind made all the connections, you dropped your phone.

“Y/N? What’s wrong?” Leo asked, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“Jeremy’s been kidnapped.” You muttered, looking at Leo with fear in your eyes.

“What? Already? How?” The red masked turtle asked.

“Holbein’s house. Jeremy and I went to his place to study and Gunter gave us water. We fell asleep and when I woke up, Jeremy was gone.” You explained, taking deep breaths to calm your nerves.

“Gunter must have brought Jeremy to Walter.” Leo concluded.

“And Walter gave him to the Kraang.” His shorter and more buff brother added.

“Oh God, Jeremy…” You muttered, feeling your stress build up again, your eyes started to glow again. Leo noticed your stress and pulled you in for a hug, stroking your hair and hushing you. It was all overwhelming for you; your father figure was a mutant, April wasn’t talking to you and now your friend was kidnapped.

“We’ll get him back, I promise.” He whispered softly in your ear.

“Yeah, we always get our friends back!” Mikey added, patting your back. “You can count on us.”

You pulled away from Leo and wiped your tears away, sniffling in the process. Mikey proceeded to hug you and you hugged back, embracing the cheerful turtle in your arms.

“Hey, why don’t we watch Super Robo Mecha Force Five to get your mind off things?” He suggested.

“That would be great.” At that, Mikey practically pulled you to the living room and sat you down on the couch, followed by the others. He turned on the TV and the show came on. His eyes were glued to the screen as he sat down on the floor in front of you.

You turned to the turtle with the red mask. “Hey, I didn’t get your name.”

“Raphael.” He mumbled as he was too focused on the show. You still managed to hear what he said and you made note to remember his name.

After watching about two episodes, you heard someone step close to you and you looked up to see a tall rat in a macaroon coloured robe. His sudden presence startled you and you fell off the couch, landing right behind Mikey.

“My sons, who is our guest here?” He asked and you swore you heard a japanese accent.

“Sensei, this is Y/N, the friend I told you about.” Leo answered.

“Sorry to bother you, sir.” You apologized, getting up on your feet and dusting yourself off.

He hummed and smiled at you. “No need for apologies, Y/N, you are a guest. My sons told me a lot about you.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. I am pleased to finally meet you.”

“Likewise.”

Just then, you all heard the turnstile turn and you all looked at the entrance to see none other than your red-headed sister. Her eyes widened upon seeing you in the lair with her closest friends.

“April?” You gasped.

“Y/N?!”


	6. Plans unfold

“What the hell are you doing here?” April asked, clearly shocked to see you in the lair with the turtles.

“We needed her for something.” Raph replied.

“How it is good to see you, April.” Splinter greeted with a warm smile.

“It’s good to see you too, Master Splinter. I hope we can continue our training soon.”

“Whenever you wish.”

April then turned to the turtles. “Guys… I’m sorry for everything.” she apologized, ignoring you for a bit so she could say what she came here to say.

“You’re sorry? But we’re the ones who screwed up.” Leo contradicted.

“I get it. It was an accident, I know you guys didn’t mean it. More importantly, you guys are my friends and I promise to never hold a grudge against you ever again.” She finished before walking up to Donnie. “Thank you for always being there for me, even when I didn’t want you to.” She then hugged him and kissed his cheek, making his eyes turn into hearts and giggle like a 5-year-old.

“You’re the best April!” Mikey beamed, giving her finger guns. He then turned to you and wrapped his arm around your shoulders. “We met your adopted sister! She’s so cool! Literally, hehe.”

Drops of sweat trickled down your forehead as the tension in the room arised. April glared at you and clenched her fists. Splinter noticed the tension but decided not to say anything for now.

“Sis, I can explain!” You started and she crossed her arms, still keeping the glare.

“Oh please, do enlighten me.” She sassed.

“I accidentally stumbled into Leo when he was fighting the Kraang. Days went by and the guys asked me about Holbein and how he might be working with the Kraang. I helped out, yadda yadda yadda and now we’re here.” You explained rapidly but her look didn’t change.

“Did you know I was friends with them?” April asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose and you nodded. “And you didn’t tell me because?”

“I was going to but lately, you don’t want to talk to me.”

April huffed, rubbing her temples next, trying to ease the headache she was experiencing because of the stress of her father and now the anger that you kept this secret from her. You were about to speak but your phone rang, so you picked up to hear Michael’s distressed voice on the end of the line, asking you if you’d seen Jeremy. With a heavy sigh, you told him no and you suggested that you both play Apocalypse of the Damned to relieve him and he agreed. You ended the call and turned to the turtles, Splinter and April.

“I gotta shoot, my friend needs me.” You sighed but managed to flash a smile at them. “I’ll see you all… whenever I’m free I guess.”

“Need a lift? I can take you there in the Shellraiser.” Leo proposed and you nodded.

“That would be nice, thanks.”

Leo led you to the large vehicle that looked to be a subway car that was heavily remade and painted. You both went inside and you were amazed by how it looked. There were four stations; one with a computer, keyboards and video monitors, one with a map, one with levers and buttons and finally the driver’s seat. Leo sat down and you stood next to him, looking around for some kind of seat.

“Uh yeah no there aren’t really any seats. It’s made for us to patrol and fight enemies.” Leo explained, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

“It’s okay, I’ll hang on the handles.” You replied, wrapping your fingers around the handle above you.

You gave him the address of Michael’s house and he drove the car away. The Shellraiser went through the dark subway rails of the underground until Leo pushed a button which opened a secret gate that led to the outside. He drove through and you were both in the night streets of New York City. It was too bad there was no window on the Shellraiser, the city lights are beautiful in the night. You looked over at the blue-eyed leader whose eyes were fixated on the monitor that showed the road in front of him. You snapped out of your trance upon realizing that you were staring at him for too long which made your cheeks warm up. Leo’s eyes glanced at your blushing face and cracked a small smile; this was nice. Just you and him in the shellraiser on your way to Michael’s house.

“So.” Leo broke the silence. “What did your friend need you for?”

“He’s worried about Jeremy. What am I supposed to tell him? That robot aliens kidnapped him to experiment on the supercomputer that’s inside his brain and has been dormant for nearly a year?” You answered.

“I don’t know. You’ll have to make something up.”

You sighed. “God, I hope we’ll be able to find him and bring him back home safely. He must be so scared all alone with the Kraang. Who knows what they’re doing to the poor guy.”

“We’ll get him back. We’ll do everything we can, I promise you.” Leo said in an assured and determined tone which made you feel slightly better. “Looks like we’re here.” The vehicle slowed down until it stopped in front of the house where Michael and his mothers lived.

“Thanks a lot, Leo. I really appreciate it.” You thanked him, flashing him a smile which he returned.

“No problem. Stay safe.”

“You too.”

And with that, you exited the Shellraiser and walked over to the doorstep of the house and rang the bell. You heard the bell ring from the inside and after a few shuffles and muffled voices, the door opened to Michael pulling you inside and hugging you. You hugged him back, feeling the warmth of his hoodie. He was visibly shaking and you saw both his moms whispering to each other with worried looks on their faces. They were worried for their crying son and they frankly didn’t know what to do. After a few more seconds, he pulled away and you looked into his red puffy eyes. He told you he had a bad feeling that something wasn’t right, that Jeremy was in trouble somehow and you wished you could tell him the truth but you simply had to lie to keep him safe. So you told him that the SQUIP was acting up again and he needed time away from everything to get his thoughts sorted, to make sure it doesn’t control him again. Thankfully he believed you and you both spent the next few hours playing Apocalypse of the Damned until you had a call from Jack Kurtzman himself. You excused yourself and answered the phone.

“I just found out what happened, I’m sorry for your loss.” His deep voice said.

“No! He’s not done yet. I’ll save him and bring him back safely.” You replied sternly.

“I admire your determination, Y/N, and I know you’ll succeed.” You could practically hear him smile hopefully through the phone.

“Any idea where the Kraang took him? The Kraang have more than one base, right?”

“That’s right. However they likely took him to TCRI, it’s where they conduct all their experiments.”

“Got it.”

“Don’t go alone, it’s dangerous and there are thousands of them.”

“I know, and I won’t go alone, don’t worry.”

“Alright. Stay safe.”

“You too, bye.” You finished before ending the call. Kurtzman worrying for you made your heart feel warm, he became a mentor figure to you and you really appreciated his company. He was kind, thoughtful and intelligent. The night ended, you went back home and went straight to bed. 

A few days went by and you heard nothing from the turtles, the Kraang nor Jeremy which worried you. On a mid-October morning, you went downstairs to find the living room empty which wasn’t surprising; you had to wake up earlier to go to school since you had to report to the student council meetings to discuss things. During the day, you saw April hanging out with the same black haired boy named Casey Jones, a pro hockey player who’s grades were not their best. You hung out with him here and there. The news about Jeremy’s disappearance spread and it frankly made everyone on edge; he became quite important ever since the SQUIP’s attempt at invasion and with the Kraang around, it didn’t help. You heard a few rumors such as the SQUIP coming back and controlling him to work with the Kraang or the Kraang capturing him. Thankfully enough, Michael reassured them all and repeated the lie you had told him the night before.

Another news also came out; Halloween was getting close, which meant that the Halloween party, that was announced during assembly, was also happening soon. This time, the party was going to be held in the school gym as it was bigger than Jake’s house. Speaking of him, right before the class before lunch, he came up to you and asked you to be his date for the party. An uncomfortable feeling washed over you; you didn’t want to go with him, you just wanted to go with any of your new friends. You told you that you’d think about it but he insisted, As you were about to reply, the bell rang and you rushed out to your next class.

As the afternoon went by, everything was normal, that is - until you stumbled into Gunter in the hall. He wore his usual bright colours and presented his arrogant and confident persona with a few girls next to him. However that didn’t matter to you, what did was the sudden feeling of adrenaline coursing through you. Something felt wrong. Something wasn’t right. Your eyes glowed for a brief second and you immediately looked at his back hanging on his shoulder and he noticed which made him glare at you and push past you, your shoulder hitting against the lockers. Yup, something was definitely wrong. Luckily, you had design technology class next, which was your last, and you were both sitting next to each other.

In this class, you were learning about all things technology and the teacher hated using paper so everyone had to bring their own laptops to class every time and those who didn’t have one had to borrow from the school. While the teacher talked, everyone in the room was typing away since you were learning about programming and you looked to your side and saw Gunter looking at blueprints of what seemed to be a bomb.

_‘He’s planning to make a bomb?’_ You thought to yourself. _‘But why?’_

Gunter noticed you and glared at you. “Mind your own business, L/N.” He growled and moved away from you so you could no longer see what he was doing.

Taking one last glance at his computer, you noticed a USB key attached to it and him clicking and dragging his mouse, meaning he was transferring files undoubtedly to the drive. You had to find out what his plan was. Could he be working with his father? Your thoughts were interrupted by your teacher calling your name and asking you a question about what you were learning. You struggled to find the answer but you guessed something and strangely, you got it right and so he went back to teaching. A sigh of relief escaped your lips as you felt yourself relax a bit. However your mind was fixated on one thing.

**Get that USB key from Gunter.**

Minutes went by and it felt like hours to you as you were trying to find the opportunity to get the device. Knees bouncing, finger tapping against the table, eyes glancing next to you, you were growing impatient. However, that moment came to an end when Gunter got up from his seat and went out the door, mumbling to the teacher that he went to print something. As swift as the wind, you grabbed the USB and inserted on the port on the side of your computer. Quickly making copies of everything he had to your new folder on your desktop that you named “homework” as a disguise, you succeeded in your mission and you put back the USB into Gunter’s computer without anyone noticing.

After class, you went home and immediately opened your computer again to look into the files that you had downloaded from the USB key. There were very few but they were very important. One was instructions on how to build a bomb, another is all about mutagen, another one is the blueprint of the bomb and so on. Every file was about a bomb, mutagen and some maps. One map you recognized to be that of the school gym which made your stomach drop. Was he planning to plant those bombs inside the gyms? Why? When? Too many questions were filling your mind and it made you feel anxious. You went through the files again and upon looking at a particular document, you noticed something.

Date of execution: October 31rst, Halloween Dance Party  
Location: Roosevelt High School Gym  
Target: Students and teachers.

“Oh my God.” You gasped. Immediately, you reached for your phone and dialed a number, placing your phone on your ear and hearing the ringing sound before being picked up.

“Hello?” the voice called.

“Leo, there’s a bad situation here.” You said.

“What is it?” He asked worriedly.

“Gunter is going to bomb the school gym.”


	7. The Kraang Conspiracy: Finding Jeremy

It had been days since you told Leo about Gunter’s plan and you grew worried. The Halloween Party was coming closer, which also meant the end of the school. You had given Leo the USB key who had passed it over to Donnie. Donnie had analyzed and had told you that it wasn’t just a regular bomb; it was a mutagen bomb. Gunter wanted to mutate everyone. The only thing you needed to know was why. What was his motive? Either way, you had to stop him. You had asked Leo for advice but he had replied that there was nothing you could do for now, not until the actual day itself. That frustrated you but he had a solid point that you couldn’t argue. It seemed that you had a lot on your shoulders; school council president, finding Jeremy, reporting to teachers and now you had to stop the bomb. You were typing away on your computer, working on an essay that was due in a few days, in your room. It was around 11:30 pm and you were already feeling tired, it was a long day. Just then, your phone rang and you looked to see it was Leo. A smile made its way on your tired face as you answered it.

“Yo.” You said.

“Hey Y/N. I just wanted to check up on you. You seem pretty stressed out lately.” He replied.

“Ah, yeah… A lot’s on my plate.”

“I can imagine. I’m sorry you have to go through this.”

You sighed. “It’s okay. That’s part of being a leader, right?”

“Tell me about it.” You both chuckled as you understood each other very well. Another moment of connection between the two of you.

“So, what’re you up to right now?” You asked.

“We’re patrolling at the moment.”

“Is April with you? She’s not in her room.”

“Yup. She’s training with us.”

“Good good. I guess I should leave you to it then.”

“Are you gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, no worries.”

“Alright then. See you.” He finished before ending the call.

You smiled as you put back your phone on your table and looked at your screen. The document was still up but you suddenly no longer wanted to continue your work. So you opened a new tab and went on YouTube. There, you watched meme videos and conspiracy theory ones as well as a few news related ones. It felt nice doing nothing for a bit. You also felt less stressed. Something about Leo’s voice was soothing and it calmed you down. Oh, what you would give for him to read you a bedtime story. Suddenly, your phone rang again and this time it had a different caller ID.

It was Jack Kurtzman.

You answered the call. “Jack? What’s up?”

“I may have an idea where your friend might be. I’m outside at the moment to gather more information however you’re free to come by and we can discuss more about it.” He explained.

“Alright, I’m coming over. See you later.” And with that, you ended the call, put your phone inside your pocket and left the apartment.

Deciding you felt lazy to walk there, you closed your eyes and concentrated on Winter. You thought about your assignments and everything that stresses you out and soon, your transformation had begun. You opened your eyes and they glowed and the roots of your H/C turned white, trailing down to the tip until your entire hair was a beautiful white colour. Facing your palms against the floor, the mist that came out from them with a strong force propelled you into the air and soon enough, you were flying off to Jack’s. You quickly arrived at his place, entered the building and calmed your nerves by taking deep breaths and clearing your mind and you began transforming back to normal. Taking the elevator up, you pressed the floor number that he lived in and waited whilst the rather annoying elevator music played. You exited the lift when it arrived on the floor and walked towards his door with the keys in your hands. He gave you an extra pair of his apartment jey so that you could come over any time you wanted. Opening the door, you went inside and closed it behind you. Your eyes scanned his apartment and when you went to the living room, you noticed a board with pinned pictures of the turtles and April.

Truth is, you had been reporting to Jack about all things mutant and Kraang, even the turtles. He was trustworthy, it was not like his social life was very good; he was a paranoid 40-year-old man living in the darkness of his small apartment in the middle of the city. He had had a beautiful wife and young daughter a few years back, however, since he discovered about the existence of the Kraang and mutants, his constant paranoia had driven them away from him and he had been left alone. The two of you had met two years ago when he had researched about April’s family bloodline and went out trying to look for you since you were close to her. You had been lucky as he had found you just as you were going to stab a bully who teased you about your glowing eyes and white hair. He had told you about what he had known and had offered his help to control your powers and back then, you had desperately needed that help and so you had accepted. Now, Jack became a mentor of sorts to you; he helped you gain better control over Winter, he taught you everything you needed to know about the Kraang and he checked up on you to see if you were okay. You trusted him with your life.

Spotting a notebook on his desk, you opened it and read over each page. It started off as the background about the Kraang with pictures, drawings and explanations decorating the pages and soon it talked about your bloodline. There, you picked up the family picture of April, Kirby and her mother. She was beautiful. She had medium-long blond hair, mesmerizing green eyes, defined cheekbones and a gentle smile that April had inherited. You never knew her; neither you nor April did. By the time you moved in with the O’Neils, her mother was already gone. You put the picture back where it was before and closed the book, replacing it on its original place on the desk. A sigh escaped your lips as you ran a hand through your H/C locks.

With a sudden feeling of needing the bathroom, you made your way there and did what you had to do. Whilst sitting on the toilet seat, you leaned your head back against the wall and thoughts flooded in your mind.

_What happened to your own family?  
How did your father just vanish?  
How did you get your powers?  
Is Jeremy okay?  
What are the Kraang doing to him?  
Is he dead?_

And it goes on.

You mentally slapped yourself and focused on what you needed to do now which was finding Jeremy and bringing him home safely. You finished your business, washed your hands and as you were doing that, you looked at yourself in the mirror, paying close attention to every little detail on your face. The pores, blackheads, bumps and all the small imperfections were all you could look at as you suddenly felt focused on your face. However your moment of solitude was interrupted as you heard a loud thump as if someone was shoved against a wall. Quickly wiping your hands, you exited and went to the living room where you saw Raph pinning Jack against the wall with the rest of the turtles including April behind him. You immediately grab Raph’s hand that was gripping Jack’s jacket and looked at his emerald green eyes with your concerned ones.

“Don’t hurt him, he’s with me! He’s my friend!” You said.

“Stalker’s more like it.” Raph replied, glaring at Jack.

“He was watching us, Y/N.” April spat.

“Yeah.” Leo spoke, looking at you before turning his gaze back to Jack. “You better start talking pal, what’s with the photos? Who are you? And how do you know Y/N?”

“Guys-” You were about to say before Jack cut you off.

“It’s okay Y/N.” He gave you a reassuring look. Your hand was still on Raph and you gave the red-masked turtle a look of ‘let him go please’ which he understood and reluctantly did so. “I was a journalist on the case of the missing scientist last year, and then I discovered something much bigger: the Kraang.” Jack started. “The alien infiltration is long-lived, Ancient, in fact. The Kraang have been trying to use mutagen to terraform the Earth for thousands of years. But they couldn't use the mutagen in our universe without a specific chain of human DNA. They spent millennia capturing people, shaping humankind's genetic code, until finally.” Jack showed a picture of April as a baby. April gasped at that.

“That’s me.” She said.

“Your mother was taken by the Kraang before you were born. Then she was experimented on.” Kurtzman continued. “That’s why you’re so special, April.”

“What are you talking about?” She asked, her voice shaking as the brothers and Jack watched you both.

“April, your DNA can perfect the mutagen in this dimension.” You answered before Jack could.

“I… I think I need to sit down.” April mumbled as she held onto the furniture behind her.

“And uh… I have powers.” You confessed, feeling your nerves going haywire. She looked at you confused and there you stretched out your dominant hand with your palm facing upwards and white mist came from it and trickled down onto the ground. April’s eyes widened in shock and stepped back slightly.

“I wanted to tell you sooner but I couldn't put you at risk until I’m completely comfortable with them! I nearly killed someone just a few years ago!” You explained. “I hid it from you to protect you from myself - er, my alter ego, Winter.”

“Jesus Christ.” April cursed.

“Winter is much more powerful and if Y/N were to completely transform, she would lose herself and turn into a killing machine.” Jack added, making the turtle brothers and April gasped.

“I’m sorry April.”

Suddenly, a group of Kraang droids burst into the room with their laser guns pointed at the lot of you. One droid commanded that they disintegrate first before interrogating later and with that, they fired. Immediately, you transformed and created ice spikes to stab each droid. Everyone fought as hard as they could, even April who seemingly was struggling. However there were too many of them and Leo ordered you all to retreat and so you did. Jack followed but went back to get his book when he realized he couldn’t leave without it. The Kraang pushed him back and he fell out the window and just as he was about to hit the ground, Mikey caught his leg with his kusarigama chain from his nunchucks and set him down on the ground. A Kraang's van was then parked - and a Kraang (walking on several new metal appendages) stepped out of it and opened fire on you all once again. Leo urged everyone to get inside the Shellraiser and you did with him driving away from the scene.

Everyone sighed in relief after losing the Kraang. Jack then told the boys that they needed to go to TCRI and wipe out all the data that the Kraang have on April’s DNA which shocked the turtles as they thought they had destroyed the building during the invasion. When Leo stopped the Shellraiser a few blocks away from the assumed destroyed building, you were all surprised to see it was rebuilt. Leo then explained his plan to you all; the turtle brothers were going to break in, erase the data and get out whilst you, April and Jack stayed on lookout which frustrated you.

“I have to go with you! What if Jeremy’s in there?” You protested.

“We can’t risk you getting hurt.” Leo replied.

“I can’t risk Jeremy’s life.” You snapped back to which his eyes slightly widened too. You made a fair point. Jeremy would freak out if he saw him and his brothers so it would make sense to have you.

“Alright, just stay close.” He agreed.

April protested but Leo dismissed her and you all broke in. The six of you entered from above, using a rope to climb down however you came face to face with a Kraang droid staring right at you, startling you. However Raph covered your mouth before you could let out any sound and pointed his sai at it. He noticed that there was no reaction and that was when Donnie said that they were charging. Mikey then started playing with its face, commenting on how rubbery it was. Suddenly, April jumped down from above and landed in the middle of you all, startling you. Leo questioned her and she replied that she was sick of sitting on the sidelines. Leo knew he couldn’t persuade her and let her come along as long as she stayed close and didn’t let Mikey touch anything. However the moment he said that, a sound came from the droid and after initially thinking Mikey did something, you all realized that the droids had finished charging and so you sprinted towards the nearest elevator all whilst avoiding being seen by the alien robots. Once you made it inside, you all breathed out in relief as you were able to catch your breath and rest for a bit.

Upon arrival at the very top floor, the doors opened to reveal a bunch of Kraang floating in midair with their eyes closed. April suddenly grunted and said that they were “meditating” and she could hear their thoughts. She told you that they were talking about the invasion however a minute after she said that, she gasped and the Kraang seemed to have heard her as they all turned around and more droids along with the “lady with the exploding elbows”. You all fought with all your might but you were interrupted as you saw a droid dragging April away. The turtles went after her but you stayed back and took another route, the opposite direction of where they were headed.

“Sorry, April. The turtle’s got you, but not Jeremy.” You mumbled to yourself before you tapped your foot on the ground and it turned to ice. With one quick hand motion, spikes from the iced floor emerged from the floor and sliced every single Kraang droid until you were alone.

You noticed a large computer in the center and walked to it, looking at the strange keyboard and screen. You walked towards it and randomly pressed on the keys, hoping to get what you wanted. After doing that for a while, a video popped up and there you saw Jeremy strapped down to a table with some kind of helmet on his head. Kraang droids surrounded him and another was typing some stuff on the computer. Looking on the top left corner of the screen, you saw the location of the room and clicked on it which showed a map of how to get there from where you were. Printing this image in your mind, you sprinted into action and went towards the direction of where Jeremy was. Your phone rang as your sprinting had turned into walking and you picked it up, hearing Leo’s panicked voice.

“Y/N thank God! Where are you?” He asked frantically. You heard sounds of lasers and a familiar voice repeating “derp” in the background.

“I had to stay behind Leo but I needed to find Jeremy! I found his location and I’m-”

“What the hell?!” Leo shouted, cutting you off. “We could’ve done that together! Going off on your own is suicide!”

“There’s no time!” You snapped. “Jeremy’s on his own here. He doesn’t know you and might freak out even more. It’s best if I go alone.”

Leo sighed. “Just… be safe, alright? I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

“It’s justified. I’ll come back safely with Jeremy.”

“Call me if anything happens okay? We’ll come as soon as we can.”

“I will, thanks. Keep April safe for me.”

“We will. See you.” And with that, he ended the call and you started jogging forward.

“Hold on Jeremy, I’m coming.” You said aloud as you picked up your pace.


	8. PTSD

**Fanart by Lovewhile on Deviantart**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Swiftly jogging in the halls of TCRI, you looked inside every door, checking where the Kraang droids were and seeing ways to avoid them. After what seemed like forever, you heard familiar screams and you recognised them to be Jeremy’s. You picked up your pace and arrived in front of the door. Peeking through the small window of the metal door, you saw the same thing you did on the screen monitor in that other room. Poor Jeremy. He looked so scared and so tired. You couldn’t devise a plan, all you could do is barge in there, guns blazing. And so that was what you did. Placing your hands on the door, ice formed around it and went inside every crack, freezing the insides as well. Once the door was completely frozen, you extended your arms and shot an ice blast which broke the wall. Thankfully the debris hit the droids as well. The alarm went off, you had to hurry. Going to Jeremy’s table, you froze the chains off and got him up, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and wrapping yours around his waist, hoisting him up. He looked at you with his tired eyes, sweat dripping from his forehead.

“Who are you…?” He asked weakly. Of course he didn’t recognise you, you were transformed.

“Your friendly neighbourhood - uh - hero? C’mon we have to go now.” You replied firmly and you were about to leave but then heard footsteps. You prepared an ice spike in your free hand but halted upon seeing the turtle’s faces.

“Y/N! Thank God!” Leo’s distressed voice spoke as he ran up to you and held your shoulders. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt, right?” He frantically asked.

“I’m fine I’m fine, don’t worry.” You reassured and Jeremy groaned.

“What the hell?” He spoke, eyeing you and the turtles.

“We have to get out of here, Leo!” Raph pressured and Leo nodded and he went to Jeremy’s other side and hoisted him up as well.

The three turtles lead the way all whilst fighting the Kraang droids that were shooting at them. At one point, you were surrounded and that was when you hit your foot on the ground and it created a layer of ice on the floor that spread far across the room. With one motion of your head, the ice swiftly formed itself around the droids, instantly freezing them. The hall felt colder as a result. You all continued to fight your way out until you arrived in front of a hole on the wall. The turtles fired their grappling hooks but Leo motioned for you to let go of Jeremy so he could carry him. You nodded and Leo carried Jeremy and jumped out, swinging and then landing on a nearby rooftop. You flew out and joined them. The six of you ran away from the scene to join April and Kurtzman and the moment you saw their familiar faces, you felt lighter and calmer, as if a huge weight was taken off your shoulders. You all panted and Jeremy groaned, holding his head as Leo was still lifting him up.

“What the hell…” He cursed, his voice raspy probably from all the screaming.

“Jeremy?” April asked. “I heard you ran away.”

“Yeah no that was a lie.” You replied, looking at her as you transformed back into your normal self. “Jeremy was taken by Holbein and brought to the Kraang. They want him for the SQUIP, see if they could use it to their advantage.”

“Let’s get him back to the lair, check on him to see if they did anything to him.” Donnie said.

“Well, you do that. I’ll be heading home for the night.” Kurtzman spoke. “But if you need me-” he started as he reached into the chest pocket of his jacket and took out a card, giving it to Leo. “-you know where to go.” Leo nodded at this and he got inside his car. “Stay safe out there rookies, I’ll be there when you need me.” And with that, he drove away.

“April, I need you to tell Michael that Jeremy’s okay and he’ll be back in school as soon as he can.” You instructed the redhead who nodded at you. “Thank you.”

“C’mon, let’s head back.” Leo said as you and the turtles went to the Shellraiser that was parked not too far away.

You all went inside and Leo left Jeremy’s side so he could go to the driver’s seat to start the engine. Jeremy leaned onto you, feeling drained of all his energy. Leo started driving and you stumbled a bit however you were caught by April who held Jeremy’s other arm, supporting half of his weight. You looked curiously at her but she looked away, avoiding your gaze. You smiled, she was basically saying “I’ve got you but I don’t want to admit it.'' Standing in a stable position as Leo drove, you couldn’t help but look at every single detail of the vehicle. It wasn’t the cleanest thing you’d seen, it was stained and there was paint on some areas. The stains were probably permanent. It was also pretty dim which wasn’t surprising as there were no windows which was a shame, seeing the city’s lights was always a magical experience. After many turns, you felt the Shellraiser move downwards, as if going down a hill and you got the hint that you had entered the sewers seen as it was underground. When it stopped moving, the door slid open and you and April carried Jeremy out, going past the turnstile and then carefully setting him down on the couch.

“Y/N…?” He called softly, his voice barely a whisper.

“Hey buddy, how’re you feeling?” You asked, placing your hand on his forehead to check his temperature and felt it warm. You looked at Donnie who nodded at you, understanding your message and going to his lab. The others gathered around Jeremy with Leo sitting on Jeremy’s right, Raph and Mikey sitting on the floor a few meters away from him to not scare him. You were sitting closest to him, reassuring him that you were here and April was next to you.

“Like shit.” He replied. “Did all of that really just happen to me…? Aliens? Electrocution? Aah!” He grunted, grabbing his head. “My head, it hurts.”

You were surprised that he didn’t notice the turtles but you decided to ignore that. “They did a number on you.”

“What were they? Where did they come from? What… What did they want with me…?” He continuously asked, his voice breaking at the end as he fought back tears.

“They’re… aliens from another dimension, Jeremy. They came here to invade us and they’re after you for your SQUIP.” April answered.

“I mean… I still hear voices in my head but mine’s the loudest. I haven’t heard from him for months now.”

“Woahhh you hear voices in your head? That’s so cool!” Mikey chimed in which caught Jeremy’s attention and his eyes widened.

“Mikey!” Raph scolded him, smacking the back of his head.

“Y-Y/N? You’re seeing them too… right?” Jeremy whispered, shifting closer to you. His eyes were contracted, sweat trickled down his forehead, his teeth were chattering and his body was shivering.

“Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you. If anything, they helped me rescue you.” You soothed him, rubbing his back.

“Yeah we’re friendly dude! I’m Michaelangelo, the moody guy here-” Mikey started, slinging his arm around Raph who glared at him. “-is Raphael.” Raph sighed before looking at Jeremy and nodding at him with a small smile. You were surprised that he didn’t smack Mikey again for his comment, guess he prioritized reassuring Jeremy first. “That guy over there next to you is our fearless leader Leonardo.” Leo smiled at Jeremy who looked stunned. “And finally we have our mad scientist, Dr. Donatello right behind you.” At that, Jeremy looked behind and saw Donnie standing over him.

“I’m not a mad scientist Mikey!” Donnie retorted before bending down and handing something to Jeremy. “Excuse our little brother over there, you can call me Donnie. Here are some painkillers to help with your headache.”

“Uh…” Jeremy spoke and his eyes looked at you, as if asking you if this was safe and you nodded in response. “Thanks…”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of Jeremy.” April said softly to him before looking at the turtles. “They’re one of the best people I’ve ever met.” They all smiled back at her.

“Jeremy.” Donnie started, gaining Jeremy’s attention. “I advise you to stay with us for a bit until we get the Kraang, the aliens who kidnapped you, out of your back. They’re after you and with the Holbein family working with them, you’re in bigger danger outside.”

“Holbein… I fell asleep while we were working on our project. Then I woke up in some lab with… robots and identical looking guys! Mr. Holbein was looking over me, talking about some ‘SQUIP project’. His eyes… they were so lifeless… Oh God…! Then all I can remember is p-pain! Oh God! The pain! Make it stop!” Jeremy yelled, grabbing his head and shaking it, tears streaming down his face. The small box of pills that were in his hand fell down and landed on the ground. Jeremy was continuously shaking and screaming.

“He’s having a panic attack!” Donnie shouted.

“Jeremy! Jeremy! Please stop!” You spoke, grabbing his arm but he ripped it away from you, getting up.

“Let me go! Stop it!” He continued to yell out.

“Restrain him!” Leo ordered.

“No!” April cut in. “He was restrained by the Kraang, he’s freaking out over that! I sense his thoughts, images of the Kraang are flashing over and over again.”

As the turtles looked at Leo for guidance on what to do, Jeremy sprinted out, heading for the turnstile. You called out for him, about to run after him but out of nowhere, Splinter stood in front of Jeremy, blocking his way. The scared boy looked up at him in fear and before he could move, Splinter pressed two fingers on his neck in one quick motion. Jeremy’s eyes closed and his limp body fell on Splinter’s arms. You ran to him and cradled him, brushing strands of hair out of his face.

“What happened?” Splinter asked, looking at Leo for an answer.

“Sensei, please understand, we saved Jeremy from the Kraang and brought him here to protect him. They’re after him!” Leo explained.

“Looks like he’s got PTSD from his time with them.” Donnie added and Splinter nodded before looking at you. Your face held only one expression; extreme worry.

“He was so scared…” You whispered, feeling a pang of guilt. “Shit, I should’ve been there sooner.”

“Y/N, do not blame yourself for something you could not control.” Splinter said, placing a hand on your shoulder. “This is not your fault.”

“Let’s take him to the guest room, let him rest for a while.” Raph spoke.

“Good idea.” Leo replied and before placing his hands on your shoulders from behind, you slightly turned your head towards him. “C’mon.” You attempted to get up but your legs were not listening to you. Splinter noticed and took Jeremy from your arms, carrying him and walking towards the other with Raph, Donnie and Mikey walking ahead to prepare the room. April and Leo stayed by your side.

“Hey, you okay?” The blue masked turtle asked.

“I’m fine… just shaken up. I’ve never seen someone so scared before. I couldn’t do anything.” You said, rubbing your arms.

“There was nothing much we could do. He was… too far gone at that point.” April replied. “He was reexperiencing everything.”

“Let’s just make sure to prevent anything from hurting him. We’ll stop the Kraang and Holbein.” Leo continued, gently massaging your shoulders which calmed you.

You nodded and smiled at the both of them before getting up on your feet. Taking a deep breath, you calmed yourself down and as you breathed out, mist came out of your breath. You walked towards the guest room where the others were. Everything felt heavy; your footsteps were like those of an elephants’, your arms were practically falling on the ground and your chest was sinking. Still, you kept moving forward, letting nothing get in your way. As you stepped in, you saw Mikey place a teddy bear next to Jeremy’s face which made you crack a small smile. Mikey noticed you and walked up to you to hug you. His hug felt like a remedy to your sickness that was guilt, his hug made it go away and you felt at peace. You hugged him back, taking in the warmth of his arms around you. Splinter, Raph and Donnie smiled before leaving the room. After the hug, Mikey whispered that it was going to be okay, that things will get better and you thanked him. He then left the room with April who said that she had to finish her homework and was going to head home. It was you and Leo in the room, in front of the closed door.

“I’ll stay here so he doesn’t wake up alone.” You said, kneeling in front of the bed, placing your arms on the soft sheets and resting your head on them.

“Hold on, I’ll be right back.” Leo said before leaving the room. A few minutes went by and he came back with a mattress, a blanket and a pillow. “Can’t have you sleeping on the cold hard floor now do we?”

You chuckled and helped him set the mattress on the floor next to the bed. Tiredness suddenly washed over you as you lay on it, your head comfortably resting on the soft pillow. You felt at ease after all that drama.

“Thanks Leo.” You said, looking at him with a smile. He looked down at you and returned the smile.

“No problem.” He replied.

“What are we going to do now? Jeremy has PTSD, he can’t go back to school if he’ll keep freaking out.”

“Then we’ll make sure he gets better before going back. Besides, until we catch Holbein, he has to stay here. I’m sure Mikey will help him relax, he’s good at distracting people.”

“Heh, that’s true. I’ll have to thank him for that.”

“Get some rest now, you must be tired from all that worrying. Seriously, one day that’s gonna be the end of you” Leo joked, lightening the mood.

“Guess I’ll have to work on that, huh?”

“And I know exactly how to help.” Leo said with confidence in his tone.

“Oh?”

He nodded. “Meditation. I always do that whenever I get worked up by something. It really helps. So how about you join me tomorrow? I can teach you how to do it.”

“Done deal.”

“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He was about to leave the room but you sat up and grabbed his hand.

“Wait.” You interrupted and he looked back at you, confused by your reaction. “Could you stay for a bit? I don’t wanna be alone right now, even with Jeremy sleeping right next to me.”

“Of course.” Leo replied before walking next to you and sitting down on the mattress.

“Sorry for asking so much.”

“Hey it’s okay, I understand. You know, Raph used to ask me to stay with him when we were kids. He’d get nightmares and when I’d go to his room to comfort him, he’d ask me to stay until he fell asleep.”

“That’s so cute.”

Leo hummed in response before telling you more stories about his childhood. The more you heard, the more relaxed you felt and thus the more tired you felt. Your eyes began closing and soon your ears couldn’t hear Leo’s voice anymore. You had fallen asleep. Leo ceased speaking once he saw your steady breathing and closed eyes. He smiled at the sight of your peaceful face, feeling more relaxed. He had been worried about you since Splinter knocked Jeremy out, your eyes had stopped gleaming and your voice had lost its calm and collected tone. He loved your voice and how it changed. It would usually be calm but it would be cheerful too. You meant a lot to him. He felt like you could understand him the most out of everyone he knew, he felt like you were the only one he could talk to about his role as a leader of his team. You were special to him and to his brothers. It had been a little over a month since he and his brothers met you and they all loved you already, especially Mikey which was no surprise. Once he made sure you were completely asleep, he got up and left the room, leaving you and Jeremy to sleep in peace.


	9. Chapter 9

_The sound of heels tapping against the floor echoed in the silent living room of the lair. Cold air, frozen walls, frozen floors and furniture and breathing was what could be heard. Mist falling down from her pale hands and onto the freezing cold floor, blue eyes and white hair, she was alone. Or at least she thought so. Out of nowhere, she heard the sound of a sword swinging towards her and in one quick motion, she turned around, creating an ice spike and colliding with the metal sword._

_There, Leonardo glared daggers at the girl, nothing but hatred and betrayal in those gorgeous blue eyes of his. He growled before swinging his sword again but the girl deflected all of his moves that was until he took out his second sword. Swing after swing, multiple cuts were forming. She kept getting pushed back until she fell to the ground, blood oozing out from her cuts. Leo looked down on her, his eyes flashing grief now. However, that moment was short lived as the girl’s eyes opened and she suddenly stabbed his leg with an ice spike, bringing him down and then straddled him as he shouts in pain. Her cold fingers danced on the emerald skin of his cheeks, wiping away the tears. He looked at her, a hint of hope shining in his eyes as he looked at the girl. She smiled at him and bent down, pressing her cold lips on his._

_As their lips connected, Leo could no longer feel his jaw and soon enough, he could feel his blood literally run cold as he started having trouble breathing. She was freezing him with a kiss. Leo’s eyes slowly closed and after she broke away from the kiss, he had stopped breathing. She stood up and looked around, seeing the other bodies of what used to be her friends, her family. Spotting a piece of glass on the floor, she picked it up, lifted to her face and looked at her reflection._

_Scared E/C eyes looked back at her and then she screamed._

“No!” You shouted, sitting up from your lying position. While panting, your eyes scanned the room and you saw that the bed next to you was empty. Alarmed, you stood up and rushed out the door, the bright light blinding you in the process. You groaned before your eyes readjusted to your environment and you saw Mikey and Jeremy sitting on the couch and playing Apocalypse of the Damned. “Jeremy?”

He heard your call and waved at you with a small smile. “Hey Y/N.”

“Morning Ice Queen!” Mikey cheerfully greeted you. He was alive, thank God.

“Everything okay?” A smooth voice asked you and you turned to see none other than the leader himself. Relief washed over you and you enveloped him in a tight hug.

“You’re alive!” You said happily.

Leo returned the hug, wrapping his arms around your waist. “Of course I’m alive. Why wouldn’t I be?” He asked.

You pulled away from him but kept your arms around him, inspecting every inch of his face to make sure you were no longer dreaming and that he was actually here. “I uh… I had a bad nightmare. You were badly hurt and there was nothing I could do.”

“Luckily it was a nightmare huh?”

“Hehe yeah. Sorry.” You sheepishly rubbed the back of your neck, embarrassed by your previous reaction.

“It’s okay. I get them too.”

“So are you two done getting all over each other?” Raph suddenly asked, eyeing you both. You hadn’t realised that you were still holding each other and after Raph’s remark, you both immediately let go of each other, blushing. The red masked turtle shook his head. “Sorry to burst your bubble but we have training to do so get your shell in the dojo.”

“Ah right.” Leo answered.

“That means you too Mikey!” Raph raised his voice, speaking to Mikey.

“But dude we’re so close to beating level 9 of the Cafetorium!” The freckled turtle whined. He and Jeremy grunted as they pressed buttons on their controllers to beat the boss however both their characters died and the words ‘GAME OVER’ was plastered on the screen. Both boys sighed. Jeremy reassured Mikey that they were going to beat the game next time and told him to go do his thing. You took a seat next to Jeremy who was very engrossed in his game. The poor guy was still trying to beat level 9 of the Cafetorium. He grunted and squeaked as he got agitated seeing his character nearly dying. He stood up and aggressively pressed the buttons on the controller however that proved useless as the screen showed ‘GAME OVER’ again. The curly haired boy groaned and dropped his butt back on the couch, leaning back and facing the ceiling. You giggled at the teen, amused by his continuous failures to beat that particular level of the game. His brown eyes looked over at you and he furrowed his eyebrows, not amused by your reaction to his fail. You shrugged at him and a few seconds later, your phone rang. You took it out and saw it was Michael trying to reach you. Jeremy looked over your shoulder and his eyes widened upon seeing his best friend’s name. You pressed the green button and put the phone next to your ear.

“Hey M-”

“Is Jeremy with you?” Michael asked, cutting you off. His voice was trembling and you swore you could hear him pacing around.

“Yeah he’s with me and he’s fine.”

“Can I talk to him? Please?”

“Of course.” You replied and just before you passed your phone to Jeremy, you put your finger on the speaker so that Michael couldn’t hear you. “You can’t say a word about the Kraang, the turtles nor me being Winter. You have to make something up.” He nodded at you and you passed your phone to him.

The moment Jeremy heard Michael’s voice, he smiled and covered his mouth with his hand, probably trying to avoid crying. He hadn’t seen his best friend for weeks, naturally he would want to have him by his side to comfort him. Deciding to leave him converse with Michael, you walked away and towards the rooms. You first opened Mikey’s door and looked inside and boy were you not surprised to see it very messy. There were empty pizza boxes everywhere, his blanket was hanging off the bedpost and there were some figurines on the center of the sheets. They must have fallen off the shelf where there way more figurines of many different characters. Next to the back of his bedpost, his skateboard leaned against the wall with a stained human underwear hanging on one of the wheels. You questioned why Mikey would have something so disgusting but you decided to leave it. That represented Mikey all right.

Closing the door, you went to the next one; Donnie’s. You opened the door and were surprised to find it just as messy except it wasn’t pizza boxes and human underwear, it was a whole bunch of books and papers. Funny, you thought he would be more tidy than his younger brother. What astonished you was the glowing zodiac signs stickers attached to his ceiling and on his walls, his room looked like the night sky and it was beautiful. Donnie was a genius after all, of course he would follow the stereotype of having a room that has glowing stickers. Briefly looking over at his desk, there were many drawings of tech, tools and gadgets, most likely his future projects.

You closed the door and moved onto Raph’s which surprisingly was open. His room was actually more tidy than the others which also surprised you. What surprised you the most was seeing drums close by to his bed. He played drums? You didn’t know that and you were glad to know that now. Drums were good to take out anger on so it made sense that a hot head like Raph would have one. His walls were decorated with multiple posters of bands and ninjas posing. On the shelf above his bed laid some spray paints, magazines and more noticeably a jack-o-lantern which was the only thing lighting up the dark room. With some dark makeup and edgy clothes, he would definitely go under the e-boy category.

Finally, you stepped to Leo’s bedroom door and opened it. Just like how you imagined it to be, he was very tidy. The structure was similar to Raph’s and he too had posters however they were more about space heroes and Super Robo Mecha Force Five which made you giggle. What a dork. For the great leader he was, he was adorable. Books of many genres were on his shelf, a majority was sci fi and adventure with a mixture of fantasy. Oh god he was definitely your type. There were also comics and to your joy, there were some on Captain America. Of course he’d idolise America’s greatest hero, Steve Rogers himself. He was kind of your superhero crush and it was no coincidence that you were starting to crush on Leo. What do they both have in common other than wearing blue and having gorgeous eyes? They were leaders. Did that mean you have a thing for leaders? Yes, yes you do. You shook your head, putting away your thoughts. You noticed a paper on his desk and you went inside to take a better look at it. You held back your squeal as you saw a sketch of Captain Ryan. You had to place a hand over your mouth to contain your squeal and this was the cutest thing you’d ever seen. It was not perfect, of course, but it was nonetheless so adorable. Next thing you know, you’ll find his Captain Ryan fanpage.

Just as you left Leo’s room, you heard grumbles and stomping from nearby the dojo. You looked at the direction and saw Raph making his way out of the sewers angrily and mumbling things to himself. Leo had informed you that it happened often for him to storm off so he could cool off and he had told you to simply ignore it. Curious about the dojo, you walked towards it and peeked inside to see Leo rubbing his head and Mikey imitating Raph whilst Donnie laughed. Splinter simply shook his head. He sensed your presence and turned his head to your direction.

“Y/N, would you like to join us?” He asked, gaining the brothers’ attention.

“Uh… sure, why not.” You awkwardly replied before stepping in. What amazed you was the tree in the center of the room, it somehow calmed you and gave you warmth. “Is Raph gonna be okay?”

“Yeah no worries. He always does that.” Donnie replied before getting into position with his brothers.

Deciding to watch them train, you walked and sat down next to the tree, fixating your eyes on the three turtle brothers. Splinter instructed them about an exercise they were going to do however the words he used were not in your vocabulary, you had no idea what he was saying. You weren’t a ninja nor did you speak Japanese! Simply watching the ninjas making their moves was awesome enough for you. You’d never seen ninjas training until now and boy was it so cool. Their smooth moves, their quick breaths, the sound of rapid footsteps and weapons clashing against each other, it was overwhelming. You could almost imagine yourself being able to fight like that. Oh how you wished you could fight like them with one snap of your fingers. What felt like hours passed and they finished their training. 

Splinter dismissed his sons and as you were about to leave, Leo put a hand on your shoulder, turning you around so you could face him and holy moly was it a sight to see from your perspective. His glistening ocean blue eyes looked down on yours, sweat trickled down his face, muscles shining under the light of the room and small pants coming out of his kissable lips. Your face felt warm upon imagining him pinning you against the wall right now and pressing his lips onto yours.

“Hey, Y/N, I was wondering something.” Leo started. “With your powers, you could be a great addition to the team and I think you can really help us in our missions. So I was wondering if you’d like to train?”

“To become a great ninja like you?” You asked, your eyes practically sparkling with admiration which made him blush.

“W-Well I wouldn’t call myself great just yet but yeah, pretty much.” He replied.

“Dude hell yeah! Seeing you guys train was so awesome!” You squealed. “But wait, who’s gonna train me? Splinter?”

“Nope. He’s busy training April. I’ll train you.”

Your imagination went wild upon hearing him say that. He was going to train you. The leader, the total dork, your crush was going to train you. Which meant the both of you were going to have close contact and just thinking of him holding your waist as he moves you to the right position made your heart flutter. You had read enough fanfictions to know where this training could lead but you decided to keep reality in check. It was only fanfictions after all, it sadly didn’t represent reality.

“Great!” You beamed.

“We’ll start tomorrow okay?”

“Okay!”

The day with the turtles went by quickly as you and Jeremy engaged in many activities with them; gaming, watching movies, DnD and so on. Night came and Jeremy told you he wanted to go home, he needed to see his father and reassure him that he was okay. You reminded him that he likely had PTSD from his time with the Kraang but he argued that he could lie to his father and tell him that his PTSD was from the SQUIP incident. You hesitantly agreed to let him go home and you followed him out, waving the turtles goodbye.

Three days had gone by and your training with Leo had been leaving you feeling sore all day. Ninja training was much more draining than you had thought. Leo had been easy going with you which you appreciated. He didn’t want to push you too much as you were only a beginner and you were still trying to control your powers. During those days where you trained with him, there were instances where Winter would briefly come out and freeze the floor. Thankfully Leo had also been teaching you about meditation and you would sometimes just meditate together, simply appreciating each other’s company. The more you spent time with him, the more you liked him. It had been almost 2 months since you met and your feelings for him were only growing stronger. God this was driving you insane. 

Meanwhile, Jeremy came back to school and readjusted himself fine. You thought this was better for him instead of keeping him isolated, distractions from his friends was the best thing to do. The Halloween party was barely in three days which also meant the bomb going off as well. You had gone undercover to try and stop Gunter however you simply couldn’t do anything. Gunter no longer trusted you after you stole his information and the security in his house was stronger. All you could do was wait. Much to your dismay, Jake kept on persuading you to be his date for the party, having had enough of your lies. So in the moment of pressure, you accepted to be his date and he was overjoyed. Something was off about him but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it due to stressing out about the bomb.

When the night came, you went back to the lair not for training but to watch Super Robo Mecha Force with the turtles. You had to admit the show was not too bad, it was pretty much a spin off of Voltron however this time the fandom wasn’t toxic on shipping. You entered the lair and you saw Mikey, Donnie and Leo already sitting on the couch with a large cup of popcorn in Mikey’s hands. Walking to the couch, you sat down next to the orange masked turtle and took a popcorn, plopping it in your mouth and eating it, tasting the delicious sweetness of the food as you watched the screen. 

A few episodes later, Raph came back, making a smug comment as he sat down next to you. Barely a few seconds later, you all heard a “clang” sound coming from the turnstile and you turned your heads to see a teenager with a mask. He attempted to run away but the turtles caught up to him and brought him inside with Mikey and Donnie holding each of his arms as he struggled. Leo removed his mask and you saw the boy had black and white face paint on his face. However you recognized the large gap in his mouth.

“Let me go, you stupid reptiles!” He spat and you immediately recognised him. It was Casey Jones, April’s friend.

“Hold on guys, he’s a friend!” You protested and they all looked at you in surprise.

“Casey?” A new voice called and you all turned to see April. With everyone’s guard down, Casey freed himself from the turtle’s grasps.

“You know these freaks?” Casey asked, looking at you and April.

April approached Casey, standing in between him and the turtles, and explained who they were. After introducing them, Splinter came out of the dojo and Casey gasped loudly, pointing at the tall ratman and then fainting. April shook him and then slapped his face, waking him up. Splinter reassured him that he wasn’t going to harm him. April then held her head and said that they weren’t alone. At that moment, foot soldiers emerged from the entrance and one scanned the room, keeping the location so that it could report back to Shredder. Raph and Casey went after it whilst the rest of you fought off the robot soldiers. Winter came out and you created ice spikes, stabbing each robot one by one. You couldn’t help but get distracted by Splinter who fought them like an absolute boss. One of the soldiers pinned you down and was about to slice you with its saw but you opened your mouth and let your breath freeze it’s head off. You got up and opened your hands, aiming them at each soldier and then shooting spikes at them. With each shot, you could feel yourself getting more agitated and less in control. Your ice spikes had turned into ice blasts and the floor under you had turned onto ice, the lair felt colder. Fighting them seemingly felt easier as all you did was touch them and they would turn into ice.

“Y/N!” someone called but you didn’t recognize your name, being too busy fighting the soldiers.

After a while of fighting, Leo asked if that was all of them and just as he said that, a foot soldier came up behind him and was about to strike him but Splinter stabbed it with one of his weapons. He then confirmed that it was all of them.

“Y/N?” April called your name. Your back was facing them, your head was looking straight ahead and your hands had mist coming out from them, pouring onto the floor. “Snap out of it!”

Her voice echoed in your mind and you felt your senses come back. You turned around and looked at the turtles with relief in your glowing eyes. You nearly had lost yourself in that battle. How would you know if you were to fully transform? The key is your eyes. When you were in control, your eyes would just glow however when not in control, your eyes would be white. Make sure to keep that in mind.

“S-Sorry, I uh lost myself there for a minute.” You said.

“You gave us a scare there.” Donnie commented.

“Sorry.”

“Hey it’s okay. What matters is that we beat those suckers!” Mikey beamed, wrapping his arm around your neck.

“So what happened to Raph and Casey?” April asked and right on cue, the two teens came back, chatting happily.

“Aww, what's up? No more robots left for me and Raph?” Casey asked with a smirk, resting his arm on Raph’s shoulder blade.

“Whoa! Okay. What's up with you two? You're like best friends forever now or something?” Mikey wondered, pointing between the boys. Splinter then walked up to Casey who gasped lightly and stood behind Raph.

“I see you have found a new ally, Raphael.” He observed.

“Yeah, Casey's cool.” Raph said

“Thank you for helping my family.” Splinter thanked Casey.

“No problem, rat dude” Casey replied. Then his eyes met yours. “Hey! You’re that chick who ran into me a few nights back.”

“Oh right.” You mumbled, forgetting that he didn’t know about your identity and you were still in your Winter form. You huffed out and closed your eyes, forcing yourself to calm down and then you returned to your original self with H/C hair and E/C eyes. “It’s me.”

“Pres?”

“Y/N.”

“That’s so metal! How’d you do that?”

“Ehh…” You sighed. “I’ll explain to you another time. Right now I just want hot chocolate and a good movie marathon.”

“Yes! Super Robo Mecha Force Five is a go!” Mikey exclaimed happily.

“The robot dude wasn’t a bad warm-up.” Casey smirked. “But now it’s time to clean the sum off the streets.”

“Let’s do this!” Raph roared and they both bump their heads against each other

“Yeah!” They growled before running off.

“You know what this means, right? Now we have two Raphaels!” Donnie concluded worriedly, not liking the idea of having two hot heads in the team.

You giggled at Donnie’s reaction which took a big weight off of your shoulders. Being with the turtles always calmed you and you knew Winter wouldn’t be able to hurt them. One would say you were bipolar seen as you addressed your alter ego as a different person. Winter was you and you were Winter, you were both the same person however Winter was your body’s fight or flight response and embodiment of all your negative emotions. She was your ‘bad side’ of sorts. What made Winter hard to control was your rejection of her. Perhaps instead of pushing her away and accepting that she was a part of you, you would be able to have a greater sense of control over yourself. Also, perhaps you would stop calling her Winter as if she was someone else.

You never asked for your powers, you never asked for Winter but she was a part of you and you had to come to terms with that fact.

However, the question is, will you realize this before you hurt someone?


	10. Halloween Party

**Heathers belongs to Laurence O'Keefe**

**\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

One day left until doomsday and you were barely getting any sleep. It was October 30, 11:55 pm, you were laying on your bed, staring at the ceiling, your eyes refusing to close and your heart rate wasn’t close to slowing down. You weren’t okay. Gunter was going to bomb the school and you didn’t know why. Did you fail? What could you have done to prevent this? Did you not do enough for him? There were too many questions occupying your mind from resting. Having had enough, you huffed out and got up from your position. You changed into a pair of dark jeans, a F/C coloured t-shirt with a hoodie over it. You were immune to the cold but hoodies felt really comfortable so you couldn’t NOT wear them. Grabbing your keys and your phone, you went downstairs, put on your sneakers and went out, closing and locking the door behind you. The cool breeze caressed your face, feeling the fresh air of New York and it calmed you. On that note, you made your way down the street, heading towards the manhole cover that was closest to the turtle's lair. Donnie was kind enough to draw out a map for you and sent it to you on your phone. Thankfully, you had been coming in and out of the lair so you started to get familiar with the directions, the map was just in case you had doubts.

On your way there, you heard three voices and the sound of someone whimpering. Your head snapped to the source and saw that it came from a dark alley. You quietly approached the alley, staying close to the wall, and peaked around the corner. There you saw three men with purple jackets roughing up a blond man with a white shirt and black pants. You recognised the three as the Purple Dragons. You turned away and looked up, closing your eyes.

‘Never thought I’d have to play hero with you, Winter.’ You thought to yourself before opening your eyes and looking at the ground. You spotted a glass shard and picked it up, pressing it against the skin of your pal and sliding it across, blood pouring out and pain striking. You hissed but then the wound quickly closed and you transformed. Taking a deep breath in, you stepped out of the corner and let your voice echo in the darkness.

“Hey!”

The three men turned to see your glowing eyes shining and the mist coming out of your hands.

“What do you want, girly? We’re busy here.” The leader said, doing a shooing motion towards you which made you furrow your eyebrows.

“I don’t think so, pal.” You warned before extending your arms out and shooting a large ice blast at them, sending them back against the wall. The blast created a thick layer of ice around them and onto the wall. You took out your phone and called the police, telling them to come get the Purple Dragons. After you hung up, you went to the man on the floor and helped him up, asking him if he was okay. He replied that he was fine and thanked you for your kindness before asking for your name.

“Winter.” You replied with a fake confidence in your tone.

“Thank you again Winter. Have a good night!” He thanked you one more time before walking away from you.

“Hmm.” You hummed, looking down at your hands. “Maybe you could be useful.”

You transformed back and continued to make your way to the turtle’s lair. You found the manhole cover and opened it, climbing down and closing the cover above you. So you saved someone from being robbed. Not a bad start. Maybe this could be a way for you to come to terms with Winter. Playing superhero, saving people, that could help you get better control of your powers, right? Surely it would.

Who the hell were you kidding? You weren’t Spiderman for God’s sake!

The scent of the sewers nearly made you hurl. It was very strong and you had no idea how April could handle this stench. It would take you some time to get used to it. You exhaled and covered your nose and mouth with the hem of your hoodie before speed walking down the dark sewers of the city. They weren’t kidding when they called New York ‘the city that never sleeps’; even in the middle of the night people were still walking around doing things. It was what gave it so much charm, it was why you liked it very much, despite all the crimes.

Finally, you had arrived at the turnstile of the lair and the smell was already better. Mikey immediately noticed you and greeted you with a hug and an offer of a pizza slice that you happily accepted. And like that, you spent a few hours with the turtles; watching TV, playing pinball, challenging each other in a video game etc. It tired you out which meant it was time for you to go home. Leo suggested walking home with you and you didn’t reject. So now it was just the two of you on the rooftops with him carrying you bridal style, jumping from rooftop to rooftop at an inhuman speed. Well he wasn’t human after all. The journey was quiet as you were feeling too sleepy to engage in a conversation however every once in a while, Leo would ask if you were okay, especially with the Halloween party coming around and you answered that you were okay, that you were going to stop him. Once he arrived at the balcony of your room, he put you down and he squatted on the hand rails.

“Let us help, Y/N. It could be dangerous.” He spoke, concern written in his voice.

“I can be pretty dangerous.” You challenged him with a smirk.

“I’m serious. What if you both get mutated?”

“It won’t happen, I’ll make sure of that.” With that, Leo saw the determination in your eyes and sighed, giving in. Guilt suddenly hit you, he was trying to help you and you were pushing him away. “Hey.” You started, placing a hand on his shoulder. “If things go off rail, I promise I’ll call you.”

“Promise?” He asked, just to make sure.

You held out your pinky to him. “Promise.” You finished and Leo intertwined his larger pinky with your small one, feeling his skin brushing against yours.

“Goodnight.” Leo said with a warm smile.

“Goodnight, Leo.”

He jumped off and made his way back to the lair. You couldn’t help but smile as you watched his figure quickly disappear in the distance. This guy was going to be the death of you. Sliding the balcony window closed, you went to your bed, changed into your pajamas and went to bed. The next morning, you went to class and everyone was hyped because of the Halloween party but not you, no you were tense as hell. Doomsday was here and your mission was to get to the gym and freeze the bomb. Easy, right? No. There was one issue. Jake. You said you would go to the party with him and knowing his crush on you, he would not let you out of his sight which meant that you would not be able to stop Gunter. New plan. Right after school, you stop the bomb. That should work, definitely.

Nope. After school, you waited for the gym to be completely empty before going in and inspecting every room however you couldn’t find it anywhere. You searched every inch of the small rooms and closet where all the supplies were but to your luck, you couldn’t find it. However as you remembered that there was an area under the gym, you felt a powerful impact against the back of your head and you passed out. Thankfully you weren’t alone in the gym as the one and only April and Casey found you unconscious on the floor a few minutes after the impact. As Casey carried you, April looked around suspiciously, feeling uneasy all of a sudden but then shrugged it off as getting you home was more important. The two called a taxi, got inside and April gave the address to your home. As your head lay on her lap, she brushed away some hair strands off your face and noticed a bruise which you might have gotten when you fell. She wondered what had happened. Were you sick and collapsed? Did you trip on something? Or worse, did someone hit you unconscious? Casey wondered the same thing but decided to let it go for now as your health was more important. He wasn’t close to you but he secretly admired you and you were important in the school.

Once they arrived, they took you out and carried you inside the apartment. The man at the reception questioned the teenagers why they were carrying you and Casey blurted out that you had gotten too drunk to walk and talk so they were taking care of you. Once the two made it to your room, Casey put you on your bed. April got out the first aid kit and attended your bruise. She looked at you with sad eyes - maybe she was being too hard on you. You had a big secret and you were trying to protect her. After you had revealed your powers to her, she was so mad at you but then she realised she couldn’t stay mad at you. You were practically her sister. She started feeling guilty, she started thinking she was being childish and she should’ve done better. So that was what she was going to do now. You were both sisters, you looked out for each other. You had been looking out for her for so long, now it was time for her to do the same for you. Casey soon snapped her out of her thinking bubble and told her that they had to get ready for the party. The two of them were going to the Halloween party together but according to April, “not as a date but as two mutual friends”. She didn’t want to leave you but she couldn’t miss the party and she knew that you could take care of yourself. And so, she leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

An hour went by and you finally opened your eyes. You had awoken with a gasp and looked around to see you were home. You pondered for a moment before realising that April must have brought you back and you smiled at the thought that things were getting better between the two of you. However you had suddenly remembered that you had a bomb to stop and so you shot up from your lying position but then stumbled a bit. You grabbed your nightstand to avoid falling as your other hand gripped the back of your head. That bow was strong and it was still affecting you. Your thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the glass window on your balcony slid open and a lean figure snuck in. A gasp escaped your lips but then you recognised the intruder as Jake.

“Sorry for coming through the window, dreadful etiquette I know!” He said.

“What the hell are you doing?! Get out of my house!” You yelled, absolutely enraged by the teenager’s reckless and rude action.

“I’m just here to pick you up for the party, my dear.” He replied and looked at you with agitated eyes.

“God, Jake, what the hell?” You cursed, looking at him with narrow eyes and furrowed eyebrows. “You can’t just come up to my house through my window. Don’t you know how creepy that is? And how do you know my address?”

“I have my resources. Anyway, I also came to tell you how happy I am to hear that you return my feelings-”

“Excuse me?” You cut him off.

“You don’t have to hide your feelings anymore, I like you and you like me. We’re an item you and I.”

“Where in God’s name did you hear that from? Never, once, did I ever say I had feelings for you.”

“Heh.” he scoffed, looking down, shifting his position, being agitated. “That’s funny because that video you sent me says otherwise.”

“I didn’t send you anything.”

“Yeah you did. It’s on my phone.”

“Show me.” You demanded and he handed you his phone where the video played. Like he said, there you were confessing your “love” for him. Except that wasn’t you, that was an actress and a lot of video editing.

“This isn’t me.”

“What?”

“This isn’t me. This is an actress. Whoever sent this to you is messing with you.” You explained and then looked at his eyes to see his pupils were too expanded. “And have you been taking drugs?” He scoffed and then chuckled, moving back and forth and rubbing his face.

“Y’know what? This video doesn’t mean anything. You love me and I love you, we’re meant to be together.” He insisted, grabbing your hands in his.

“No!” You barked, ripping your hands off his desperate grip. His hands were sweaty and he was shaking. “Get out of here! I don’t love you and I’m not going to the party with you! You’re delusional and you need a shower!” You yelled at him however his eyes went dark and he suddenly slammed his fists on your desk, startling you.

“It doesn’t matter!” He yelled and walked towards you. Seen as you didn’t want to fight him, you ran inside your closet with your phone and closed the door. He banged on the doors which shook violently against your skin. “I was meant to be yours and you were meant to be mine! We were meant to be together!” With shaky fingers, you typed one word to Leo.

** _HELP._ **

Inside your closet, you shook in fear at the boy’s anger. He was high on drugs and he was threatening the school. He was saying that the school had to disappear, along with every innocent person inside. That wasn’t normal. He had never taken drugs, let alone get super high. Despite his arrogance, the guy was still reasonable and respected privacy, he wasn’t crazy but suddenly he’s throwing a tantrum right on the other side of your closet door. Someone did something to him. But who else had a plan to destroy the school? That’s when it hit you. Gunter. He was good with technology thanks to his father so he could have easily manipulated the video sent to Jake and then had one of his girl friends act as me. He must have known that he had a crush on you and used him to stop you. That was messed up.

“Y/N!!” Jake shouted which made you quietly yelp and you covered your mouth. “Open the door! C’mon sweetheart, I promise I’ll treat you like a queen! Y/N I’m counting down before I bust in there! _One!_”

You gasped and grabbed your hair in fear, staring intensely in front of you as your heart pounded against your tight chest. By now you had already transformed and ice was starting to form on the wooden wall of the closet however you didn’t want to fight him for fear of accidentally killing him.

“_Two!_” he shouted and as he was about to grab the door handle, he was suddenly thrown away and he hit the wall. “Ow! What the hell?!” He cursed as he rubbed his head and got up. However, his eyes widened upon seeing a green mutant turtle with two swords, one in each hand, and intense blue eyes glaring down on him.

“Get away from her.” The turtle in the blue bandana growled.

“What the hell are you?! And what would you even want with her?! She’s mine!” the darker skinned male yelled as he was about to punch the mutant.

“I don’t think so.” Leo mumbled as he used the back of his sword to knock Jake out. His brothers came inside through the open window and Donnie went to the body and opened the boy’s eyelids.

“Drugged. Cocaine most likely. He’s definitely high. Or well, he was until you knocked him out.” Donnie examined, looking over at his older brother.

“Teen humans these days, I swear.” Raph grumbled with his arms crossed.

“Where’s Y/N?” Mikey asked, looking around the room. “Y/N! It’s us! You’re safe!”

Upon hearing the younger turtle’s welcoming voice, you burst out of the closet and hugged the turtle closest to you which was Leo. He instantly wrapped his arms around your waist, hugging you back. He felt your cold hands against the back of his shell which sent shivers down his spine but he ignored it for your sake. The other turtles looked at you with worry as you were crying in their elder brother’s strong arms. Once you were done, you pulled away and wiped your teary eyes.

“What happened?” Raph asked before Leo could.

You explained everything to the turtles with as few words as possible since you still had to go to Roosevelt High gym and stop this. Leo noticed your impatience and told you to stay here whilst they disarm the bomb however you rebuked, saying that you were the only one that could get through Gunter, that you knew he wasn’t bad deep down, that he was just a misunderstood and miserable boy. Leo hesitantly agreed and all five of you went out and made your way to the school. With your powers, you flew over the building whilst the boys ran, jumped and parkoured. Because of that, they were behind you and despite Leo calling you and telling you to slow down, you sped up until you reached the doors of the school in your usual outfit.

“Heads up Gunter! You’re going down!” You said out with power and determination. The bell rang and with that, you opened the door and went inside, walking through the halls until you opened the doors that lead to the gym.

“Hey, yo, Roosevelt!” The large crowd sang together.

“Come on, Roosevelt!” One of Gunter’s female friends cheered. “Here we go, here we go now!” As you went through the crowd, you bumped into your teacher Ms. Gobbles.

“Y/N? What’s with the wig? Gunter told me you were too sick to come.” She said, surprised by your presence.

“Yeah? Well he says a lot of things.” You replied. “Ms. Gobbles, what’s under the gym?”

“The boiler room.”

“That’s it!”

“Y/N, what’s going on?” She asked before you started walking off.

“Got no time to talk, I’m a dead girl walking.” You replied as you exited the gym through another door that led to a hallway. All the while you heard the crowd chanting and singing.

_“Hey, yo, Roosevelt!  
Tell me what’s that sound?  
Here comes Roosevelt,  
Comin to put you in the ground!”_

The crowd went on as you ran through the hall until you noticed a door with a red light above. You opened it and went inside, only to be overwhelmed by the extreme heat which transformed you back to your regular self. Heat was your weakness after all. Gathering up your strength, you went down the stairs, making sure to stabilize yourself by keeping your hands against the wall as you went down.

_“Go, go Roosevelt!  
Give a great big yell!  
Roosevelt will knock you out,  
And send you straight to hell!”_

At last, you opened the final door and you were face to face with Gunter, who was crouched down against a machine. He chuckled and got up, turning around to face you with an evil grin and a handgun in his hand, pointing it at you.

"Step away from the bomb." You said, eyes glaring at his. 

“This little thing?” He gestured at the device behind him. “I'd hardly call this a bomb. This is just to trigger the packs of thermals upstairs in the gym, containing a whole big tank of mutagen. Those are bombs. People are gonna see the ashes of Roosevelt High School and they're gonna think 'there's a school that self-destructed not because society doesn't care but because that school was society'! Do you have any idea what I had to go through as a gay guy? Mocked, ridiculed and pushed around by everyone ever since I was a child. No one accepted the fact that I liked boys! So I had to put on an act, if you can’t beat’em, join’em right? I started putting makeup, dying my hair this stupid colour, wearing uncomfortable revealing clothes, all of this for the sake of fitting in! But… if everyone gets mutated, then who’s the freak now huh?!” The thin boy ranted before taking out a gun and pointing it at you.

“This isn’t the way!” You said with a sad frown on your face. “I wish things weren’t like this. I had no idea you were going through this. Please, Gunter, no one deserves this! Your dad may have convinced you that life is war but it’s not! He’s a criminal and you shouldn’t let him get to you! Please, come with me-”

“I wish I had more TNT!” He cut you off and with a huff, you lunged at him and tackled him to the ground which made him drop the gun and it slid away.

_“Hey, yo, Roosevelt!”_

The crowd’s chant echoed as you crawled to grab the gun. Just as your finger touched it, Gunter grabbed your ankle and pulled you back. He stood up and ran after it however you got up on your feet and grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him back. Meanwhile the turtles were making their way to the gym. They had snuck in from the roof and went through the air vents to arrive at the gym. They were cautiously hiding behind the bleachers, wondering where they needed to go, where you were and if they were too late.

_“Tell me what’s that sound? Here comes Roosevelt, comin to put you on the ground!”_

He gasped at the sudden pressure against his neck and elbowed your stomach which made you cough. He turned around and punched you right on your cheek, a stinging pain surging in that area however he wasn’t done; he grabbed your hair and threw a punch at your stomach. You grabbed his arm, twisted it behind him and pushed him against the wall.

_“Go, go, Roosevelt! Give a great big yell!”_

Gunter groaned at the pain in his arm that was twisted behind his back but then he used his other arm to push himself away from the wall and let himself fall back, ultimately slamming you in the ground. He backed away and got up on his feet, panting and wiping sweat away from his forehead. You too had gotten up and before you could do anything, he punched you again and you fell again on the ground, right next to the gun. As you were about to grab it, he did first and pointed it at you however you lunged at him and wrapped your hands around the weapon, wrestling him.

_“Roosevelt will knock you out, AND SEND YOU STRAIGHT TO-”_

**BANG!**

**“Y/N!!**


	11. Can't take a break

Leo had heard the gunshot, all four of them did which made them look at each other with worry. Donnie located your phone and told his brothers that you were in the boiler room, below the gymnasium. Immediately, they swiftly made their way inside, passing through the hallways whilst avoiding anyone from seeing them. Meanwhile, you pulled away from Gunter, touching your body but thankfully felt no blood or bullethole. However, you heard a thud and you looked down to see Gunter on his knees, holding his stomach that was bleeding profusely.

“Oh my God!” You gasped and bent down to his level, placing your hands on his shoulder. “How bad is it? I-I’m calling 911.” You were about to reach for your phone however Gunter’s hand stopped yours. You looked at him confused.

“No… Leave me.” He panted.

“What? Why?” You asked.

“I don’t want to deal with this anymore.” He sang.

“Gunter… no.” You murmured.

“My dad’s a criminal mastermind working with aliens who want to mutate everyone, no one accepts the real me, I get called names, my mom’s with another man in Asia, I’m forced to study things I don’t want to… It’s just too much. Maybe if I were to be someone else, then I can be at peace.” He looked at you with teary eyes. You noticed he pulled a lever that changed the course of the mutagen to pour onto him. He held the trigger in his hand and his thumb was resting on the button. “I wonder what it would be like, being a mutant. I’ll be free, heh.” He whispered before pressing the button.

“No!!” You yelled.

However nothing happened.

“Woohoo! Like a turtle do!” You heard an all too familiar voice cheer. Then in a flash, you felt four figures surround you. Someone’s arm was around your waist and you looked to your side to see Leo with worried eyes.

“What the…? H-How?” Gunter mumbled, looking at his hands, the trigger and then the pipes.

“Disarmed the bomb in a few seconds. You won’t be mutating anyone tonight, Holbein!” Donnie said, pointing at Gunter with a confident smile.

“Mutants…?” Gunter asked, looking at the four turtles in awe. With all the strengths you had left, you moved away from Leo and kneeled down in front of Gunter.  
  
“Gunter, I know this is hard for you. Being LGBT is difficult sometimes, with people being closed minded and all. But… you don’t have to pretend anymore. Be yourself. I promise, I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you’re safe both in school and out. There are others like you, trust me. They’ve also been hiding. But I’ll make sure none of you will have to anymore.” You said with determination which made him cry uncontrollably with his arms around you, hugging you as he mumbled countless apologies. You returned the gesture, stroking his blond hair to sooth him.

Later, you and Gunter went outside and you offered him a cloth to cover his wound and a cab to the hospital. He thanked you and hugged you one last time before entering the car and leaving. Your wounds had healed by the time you had gone outside, the cool air made your powers work again. You see, high temperatures were one of your weaknesses - if you’re too warm, Winter can’t come out. It’s as if you’re melting like an ice cube. Burns took you far longer to heal for instance. Thankfully, here, it wasn’t too bad so you were able to survive. In a desert, you’d die fast. Anyway, you felt too tired to go to the party so you decided to go home. You glanced up and saw the turtles waving at you from the rooftop, motioning for you to come up. Looking around, you quickly transformed and shot the ground with powerful icy mist to bring you up to the sky and then landed on the rooftop. Winter then disappeared and you looked normal again. Mikey ran to you and hugged you tight.

“We were so worried! We heard the shot and we thought you died!” he cried. You chuckled and returned his hug, patting his head.

“Well, I’m here now. Everything’s okay.” You reassured and he pulled back.

“Are you okay?” Raph asked.

“Yeah. The fight was intense but I was able to hold him off.” You replied.

“Couldn’t you have iced him?” Leo asked and you shook your head.

“The boiler room was too hot for Winter to come out. High temperatures weaken me.”

“Do you feel like melting?” Mikey questioned.

“Pretty much. But I’m okay now, I promise! The moment I went outside, my energy came back and my fast healing kicked in.”

“Fascinating. High temperatures weaken you and stop Winter from coming out.” Donnie commented.

“I’m gonna go home now, I feel really tired from all this.” You said and at that moment, you were picked up by Leo. “Woah hey! What-”

“Why have you walk home when we can take you there fast?” Leo rhetorically asked with a smirk which made you blush lightly.

“F-Fine.” You pouted.

And with that, the turtles took off, running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop at a fast speed. They were ninjas after all, they had to be fast. You slightly shifted your position so you could feel even more comfortable in Leo’s arms as he carried you. Looking up at him, he held a serious face as he ran, his eyes gleaming under the moonlight. Those beautiful blue eyes, it held so much emotion, they were kind and soft, just like his personality. Dear God, Y/N, have you fallen that hard? That sneaky cupid must have shot you with more than one arrow as you were head over heels for the leader in the blue. Or maybe you just had a thing for characters in blue? Sonic, Captain America, Genie, Megaman etc. It’s kinda weird this patter but hey, they’re cool characters so who cares. You snuggled closer to Leo and he held you tighter, afraid to drop you. After a while of parkouring, the turtles had finally arrived at your apartment and Leo put you down on the balcony.

“Thanks guys, for everything, I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t there for me.” You thanked the boys, flashing them a kind smile.

“No problem.” Raph replied, returning the smile.

“Get some rest, Y/N, you need it after tonight.” Donnie suggested, patting your shoulder.

“Will do, thanks again.” With that, you went inside, sliding the window to close it and they jumped off. When you walked in, you were surprised to see that Jake was gone but you were also relieved.

Meanwhile, the turtle brothers ran and jumped from rooftop to rooftop, Mikey cheering for their success on saving you and Gunter. Donnie did too, praising himself for deactivating the bomb just seconds before it was about to go off. Raph smirked and teased his brothers, telling them that he was surprised they made it out without everyone getting mutated and they responded by sticking their tongues out at him. Leo rolled his eyes with a mocking smile, thinking how silly his brothers were. Once they arrived at the manhole cover, they opened and went inside. They arrived at the lair quickly and went to their respective rooms to sleep for the rest of the night. Leo stayed up a little longer, just lying on his bed, looking up at the ceiling with one thing on his mind.

**You**.

He couldn’t express the absolute worry he felt when he heard the gunshot. His mind played all of the worst scenarios; from getting shot in the heart to getting shot in the head, all ending in your death. He would never forgive himself if you had died, he would spend the rest of his life blaming himself for not being able to save you. You were too important to him. Why though? What was so special about you that just lured him to you? Maybe it was your kindness, your compassion or your loyalty? He didn’t know, he didn’t understand and it scared him. These feelings. He had similar ones for Karai not too long ago but it was not nearly as strong as what he was feeling for you. The leader shook his head and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.

Speaking of the kunoichi, she had spotted the turtles carrying you back home and had taken a picture of your face before she went back to Shredder’s lair and having Baxter Stockman scan your face. He pulled up your social media and some personal files and she looked at them, reading them intensely.

“What’zzzz zzzo zzzpecial about her, Karai?” Stockman asked.

“She’s a new ally of the turtles, thought I might get to know her.” the black and blond haired girl replied before finishing reading the screen. “Y/N L/N, president of the school council, popular, decent grades; she’s the whole package. Not really surprised she knows the turtles, considering she lives with April. How about I pay her a visit?” She exited the lab and entered the main entrance hall where her father sat with two footbots guarding him. She kneeled down before him.

“What is it that you want, Karai?” He asked, his voice breaking the silence in the room.

“The turtles have a new ally and I was hoping I could meet her and get to know her, see what she’s got. If the turtles really care about her, she could be bait to lure them in so you can finish them.” Karai explained.

“Very well. Learn as much as you can about this new ally and report back to me.” her father accepted which made Karai smirk evilly.

The next day, April had gotten sick from all the punch and pizza she had at the Halloween Party and you urged her to stay home. You had Casey take care of her while you went to school and promised them you’d give them all the work they will miss. Walking to school, Karai watched you from the roofs and followed you. She wore a leather black jacket, a dark red checkered shirt, black ripped jeans and black converse; a normal outfit for a normal school. Today was Friday and right after the party so everyone in school was tired and was running on two brain cells, including yourself. You walked down the hallway and your two male friends Jeremy and Michael came up to you with smiles on their faces. They were talking to you about the party and they asked you where you had gone. You lied and told them that you had suddenly got bad period cramps and thus had no strength to go. They nodded their heads, understanding you before patting your back and walking to the next class. Further away in the hall, you noticed a student that seemed lost and approached her.

“Hey there, are you new?” You asked and she turned around, looking at you with her light brown eyes and dark eyeliner.

“Oh, yeah I am. I’m also kind of lost.” the dark-haired teen replied with a sheepy smile. “Do you know where Mr. Cantalon’s class is?”

“Yeah! I have class with him too right now so we can go together.” You proposed with a smile and she nodded, following you to the class. “What’s your name?”

“I’m… Harmony.” She replied.

“I like that name.” You complimented.

“Thank you.”

You both arrived in class and you sat in the back of the class and since you had no one next to you, you offered Harmony to sit next to you and she thanked you. Whilst the math teacher gave exercises to do, you couldn’t help but notice her heavy makeup; she wore a dark red lipstick and a thick eyeliner on the top and bottom of her eyes. She also had multiple ear piercings and with her dark outfit, you thought she was an emo girl. Despite that, you had to admit, she was beautiful. You found it kind of strange how she was japanese but had a western name however you weren’t one to judge. All the while, the girl next to you who was Karai in disguise, watched you closely like a hawk. Although you were only answering problems, she could already pick out some personality traits.

Once class was over, you offered her to eat with you and she gladly accepted. Throughout the day, you both stuck together as you had almost the exact same timetable until school was over. However, you had (favourite activity) after so you had to stay and Karai, as Harmony, said that she’d wait for you and would work on the homework in the meantime. The moment you had gone off, Karai groaned, not really liking school and having to work to keep up with her act. Thankfully, when she was working, she didn’t realise how fast time had passed as you were tapping on her shoulder to gain her attention.

“Wanna come over to my place? We could work on math together.” Karai asked as you both exited the school through the gates. It was evening, around 6 pm.

“I’m not sure I can, my friend’s pretty sick and I have to be there to take care of her.” You answered.

“Doesn’t she already have someone? Her father?” She asked again.

“Yeah… I guess. I’m still kind of worried though.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine.” With that, you hesitantly nodded and pulled on the straps of your backpack so that it hugged your back.

“How far is your house?” You questioned.

“It’s a bit far but we’re taking the bus there.” Karai answered and you nodded.

You both waited at the bus stop and talked about each other’s lives, learning more about each other. She used to live in Japan until her father’s job forced her to move to New York and despite missing her friends, she liked the city, she said it was mysterious. Then she started asking you questions, ones that were a bit personal such as your family, your friends. Other questions were kind of out-of-the-blue like what was your favourite animal and you replied with turtles which she said was interesting. Maybe she was just weird that way, it didn’t hurt anyone. Karai then pressed the “stop” button and a few seconds later, the bus stopped at a rather shady part of the city. You suddenly felt a shiver run down your spine before following your friend.

“Do you really live here?” You inquired, looking around and hugging yourself. She noticed your discomfort and smirked; she had you right where she wanted you.

“Yeah, it gets pretty hectic with all the thugs and drug dealers. You get used to it.” She replied.

You both walked for a bit until you noticed a tall, dark building with spikes, it actually looked like a church but much less holy. You had a bad feeling, something was not right, something felt off. Nonetheless, your footsteps continued until you stopped right at the front door. Your breathing got heavy and your palms were sweaty. The girl had her hand on the doorknob but didn’t open it, her back was facing you.

“Say…” You spoke, your voice wavering. “What’s your last name…?”

She slowly turned her head around and smiled evilly at you. “Harmony… Oroku.”

Suddenly, two large beings landed on your side and grabbed each of your arms. You yelped in surprise and Karai harshly grabbed your jaw, forcing you to look at her.

“Allow me to reintroduce myself, I’m Karai.” She revealed which made you growl. “Time to meet my father, the Shredder.”

With that she opened the door.


	12. Family Bonding

**Thanks for all the hearts, guys. I'm really glad you're all enjoying it!**

* * *

The two large mutants, a skeletal dog and a fish with legs, harshly shoved you in front to make you walk and you followed their orders for now, despite your fear. Your eyes looked up and around, inspecting the dark room. It was a large hall with windows for walls, under the left part of the floor was an aquarium and then on the right was some kind of sandbox with rocks. Right in the back stood tall and throne where a man in spiky armour sat. That was the Shredder.

“Karai, you brought me the new ally.” He said, getting up from his seat and walking to you. The mutants pushed you on your knees and you looked down on the floor, your hair hiding your face.

“She’s quite impressive. She’s loved by everyone in school, she gets all the attention and she performs well.” Karai asserted as if she knew everything about you.

“Where are the turtles, girl?” His deep voice addressed you but you said nothing, you kept your head low which he didn’t like. The blade from his wrist came out, making a sound that echoed in the hall. He pointed it at you. “Answer me!”

“Don’t make me frosty.” You growled. “You wouldn’t like me when I’m frosty.”

Karai attempted to move however she couldn’t and she looked down to see feet literally frozen in place. Shredder swung his blade at you but you caught it with your palm that had a thick layer of ice protecting it. Slowly lifting your head up, your now glowing eyes glared at him as the ice from your palm began wrapping itself around the blade and with your other hand, you created an ice fist and pounded his stomach so hard, the ice around his feet broke and he fell back from the punch. You got up and did one swift motion that made white mist shoot out of your skin and spread around the room, blinding everyone as you made your escape. The mist was like a smoke bomb and it gave you the perfect opportunity to run away. Due to Karai and the mutant’s feet being frozen to the ground, they couldn’t run after you however the footbots did.

You blasted the ground with ice and you were suddenly in the air. You created an ice platform right below your feet and landed on it before using your other hand to shoot out mist in order to push yourself forward on the ice. You surfed on the ice you created as you were trying to escape from the bots that were jumping high to catch you. All whilst surfing, you threw ice spikes at them and you were able to hit a few. However one had somehow gotten ahead of you and jumped towards you, grabbing your waist and tackling you down to the roof. Your body hit the ground and rolled around before your back hit the ledge of the other side. Groaning and heavily bruised, you propped yourself up with your elbow and looked at the group of Footbots that were in front of you. With very few of your energy left, you put your palm in front of you and shot a large ice blast that froze them all in their place. Relieved, you lay back down on the ground, catching your breath as you let your body heal on its own.

“Y/N!” A voice called out in worry and you looked up to see Donnie.

“Donnie? What are you doing here alone?” You asked as he helped you up, swinging your arm around his shoulders.

“I just finished checking on April and was making my way back home until I saw your ice blast.” He answered. “What happened to you?”

“Karai pretended to be a new student in school just to get to me and I fell right into her trap.” You explained with a groan.

“I don’t blame you. It’s not like you knew what she looked like.”

You scoffed at that. “Fair point. She brought me to Shredder and boy is he a nasty dude.”

“You met him? And you’re still alive?”

“I know. I’m surprised myself, heh. He wasn’t able to do anything to me ‘cause I froze his blades off.” Donnie looked at you in awe when you said that and you chuckled at his wide eyes staring down at you. “Just get me back home.” You flicked his nose which made him snap out of it. He rubbed his nose before crouching down with his back facing you and you climbed on his shell. He used his bo staff as a seat for your butt to rest on as your arms were wrapped around his shoulders. The scientist turtle jumped across rooftops until he stopped at the fire escape of your apartment. April noticed Donnie and opened your window to see him carrying you on his back.

“Y/N? What happened?” She asked.

“She had her first encounter with Karai. Must be a family thing.” Donnie answered before entering your room and bending down so you could climb off and you did, purposely falling back on your bed, your arms spread out. April came through your door and sat on the side of your bed, moving the strands of hair away from your face. “I’ll be off now, girls.”

“Thanks Don.” You thanked him with a smile which he returned before disappearing. You turned to April. “How’re you feeling?”

“Better. Casey surprisingly makes a good nurse, even with Donnie telling him exactly what to do through his phone.” The red head replied, chuckling a bit.

“Look at you, two boys pinning on you.” You commented, lightly punching her shoulder and she blushed.

“It’s… confusing, really.” April sighed.

“How so?”

“Well, both are really good friends and I like them both.” She replied.

“Are you sure there isn’t one you’re particularly into?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t really liked someone that way before.”

“Let me break it down for you; there has to be one you just want to be with all the time. He just makes you feel warm inside, he makes you smile, he’s there for you and he makes your heart flutter. Being by their side brings you happiness and you feel safe in his arms.”

April paused for a moment, deep in thought, reflecting on what you had just said.

“...I don’t know, Y/N.”

“I think I know.” You smiled at her.

“Really? Who do you think?” She asked, leaning closer to you, hoping you could help her open her eyes.

“I’m not telling you. If I do, you won’t be able to figure it out on your own. Feelings take time, Apes.”

“Aw c’mon, help me out here!” She whined, shaking you a bit but you chuckled and shook your head.

“My lips are sealed.”

April pouted and you ruffled her hair. “Get some sleep, we both need it.” she nodded at you before getting up and exiting your room, telling you goodnight as she closed the door. You smiled and sighed in relief, feeling happy that your relationship with April was improving and you were both behaving like actual siblings. Tiredness got the better of you as you closed your eyes, not even changed out of your clothes, you just fell asleep like that in an instant.

The next morning, you woke up rather late, 11 am precisely. You heard the door knock and you hummed, signalling the person that they could come in. April’s soft smile came from the open door and you smiled back, rubbing your eyes. She sat down on your bed and suggested that the two of you should eat at Mr. Murakami’s restaurant which happens to be your favourite japanese restaurant and you happily agreed.

“Y/N… I uh.” She stuttered, trying to find her words while you waited patiently. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for ignoring you. I was just mad that you didn’t tell me such a big thing. But I get it, you were trying to protect me, as I did when dad got kidnapped. Will you forgive me?”

You pulled her in a hug. “Of course. You’re like my sister, April. I could never stay mad at you, I’ll always forgive you.” You replied as she returned the hug. You both stayed in that position for a few minutes, no words, just embracing each other after so long. She pulled away from you and smiled.

“How’s Jeremy holding up?” She asked.

As if on cue, your phone rang and you looked at the ID to see Jeremy’s name. “Speak of the devil.” You picked up and answered. “Hey-”

“Y/N! I need your help!” his voice cracked as he panicked.

“Woah woah calm down, Jer. What’s wrong?”

“Something’s happening to me, I-I don’t know what it is or why it’s happening but there’s something wrong!”

“What happened?”

“I-I was heading to Michael’s place to play Apocalypse of the Damned until the Purple Dragons stopped me and tried to mug me. Then-Then out of nowhere, my body had a mind of its own and I kicked their butts!”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yes? Maybe? I don’t know!” You could hear him frantically moving around the room and waving his hands around.

“Donnie might be able to help. Meet me at my place in 1 hour, we’ll see him.”

“Are you sure the turtles can help me?”

“Trust me, Jer. Donnie’s a life saver. See you.” You finished and ended the call.

“What’s going on?” April asked.

“Jeremy knocked the Purple Dragons out when they attempted to mug him but he says he couldn’t control his body.” You explained, getting up from your bed and stretching your limbs out.

“Think it’s the SQUIP?”

“Most likely. Donnie will be able to tell us exactly. C’mon, let’s head to Murakami’s.”

After the two of you ate at Murakami’s, you headed back home and stayed in front of your door. You had ordered pizza gyoza and so did April and they were absolutely fantastic. April bought extra for the boys too. Jeremy arrived a few minutes later and you three headed for the manhole cover. The boy was hesitant to go down but you told him there was no other way and so he complied. Whilst you three walked down the dark tunnels of the sewers, Jeremy continued to talk about the incident he had and all the other times it had happened. It was definitely the SQUIP doing something but you didn’t know what. Once you had arrived at the lair, Mikey greeted you with a grin and he snatched the frozen gyozas from your hands, running to the kitchen after screaming thanks. Leo heard him from the dojo and came outside to see what happened and he saw you, April and Jeremy.

“Is Donnie in his lab?” April asked.

“Where else would he be?” Raph sassed as his eyes were still on his comic.

“Is something wrong? Is it your PTSD?” Leo inquired, walking over to you three.

“My PTSD is doing okay… but that’s not the issue.” Jeremy replied which gained Leo’s attention completely. “I-It’s weird really.”

“What is?” A new voice asked and you four looked back to see Donnie in front of his lab door with his goggles on his head.

“Well…”

Everyone went inside Donnie lab and Jeremy began explaining everything he had told you and April on the way to the lair. The purple masked turtle took notes until he finished explaining. Donnie hummed, thinking before he looked at the curly haired boy in the striped shirt.

“Sounds to me the SQUIP is responding to outside threats.” He concluded, making Jeremy cock his head to the side. “The SQUIP is in your brain, it’s part of it and you know how it responds to threats right? Your body goes into flight or fight mode where adrenaline and cortisol are secreted to respond to said threat. In your case, the SQUIP’s effect might have altered those hormones and made them twice stronger. That’s why it felt like you couldn’t control yourself, your body reacts faster than what you’re used to.” Jeremy’s jaw dropped at the genius turtle’s analysis which made a lot of sense. He looked at his hands in awe. “It’s scary at first but you’ll be fine, Jeremy. Don’t worry.” Donnie smiled, placing a hand on the human boy’s shoulder, who nodded and smiled back.

“Woahh… That’s awesome!” Mikey beamed.

“Does anyone else know about this?” Leo asked and Jeremy shook his head. “I think it’s best to lay low with this. For all we know the Kraang could be looking for you to finish what they started.”

“Turn him into a weapon? That was their plan?” Raph inquired.

“It’s more than that, Raph. They wanted to replicate the SQUIP and use it on their fiercest mutants.” Donnie corrected, making Jeremy gulp.

“Guys.” April interrupted from behind Jeremy’s shaking form. “Can we talk about how we’re gonna stop the Kraang instead?”

“Heck yeah! We’ll send those aliens back to where they came from and make sure they never bother anyone again!” Mikey said with a grin. “Don’t worry Jer, we got this!”

Jeremy looked at Mikey, then at the other brothers who all nodded at him, reassuring him that he wouldn’t get kidnapped again. He thanked them with a hopeful smile and Mikey hugged him which he returned. Leo looked over at you and you both caught each other’s eyes. You flashed him a kind smile which he returned. You all left the room but Donnie stopped Leo and whispered in his ear and the leader’s eyes widened before rushing out. He looked around for you and then he noticed you enter the dojo. He went inside and saw you admire the room. Your eyes gleamed as the moonlight reflected itself in your E/C eyes. He approached you and you turned around, your eyes meeting his blue ones.

“What’s up?” You asked with a smile.

“You were captured by the Shredder?” Leo questioned which made your smile drop.

“Ah, yeah I did. His sneaky daughter pretended to be a student and we were going to her place to do some work and that’s when she revealed her true identity. There were these two freaky mutants dragging me inside. A dog that’s been on a strict diet and a walking fish.”

He chuckled at your description of Rahzar and Fishface. “Yeah that’s Rahzar and Fishface.”

“Seriously?”

“Mikey named them.”

“Oh, make sense.” You giggled. “Shredder was about to slice and dice me but I managed to stop him.”

“You beat him down?!” Leo almost shrieked.

“No no God no! I’m not that skilled!” You interrupted yourself, laughing slightly at his dramatic reaction. “I only punched him and froze his feet in place before making my escape.”

“And you’re back with no scratch on you whatsoever.”

“Fast healing, remember?” You reminded him and his mouth made an “o” shape as he remembered. “Gotta admit, it was pretty scary. He has that name for a reason.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty intimidating. We barely made it out alive the first time we fought him.”

“You’ll get him next time.”

With that, Leo smiled, blushing a bit. He cleared his throat before taking a step away from you and had his first out in front of him with a playful smirk.

“Better start getting ready then. C’mon, let’s spar.”

You nodded and also got into position. He decided to strike first by swinging his arm at you. You dodged and got behind him, kicking his shell however he front rolled on the ground and turned around. You threw a punch but he caught it with his larger hand. A grunt of frustration escaped your lips as the blue-masked turtle smirked. Before you could do anything else, he twisted your arm behind your back and locked his other arm around your throat from behind you. You could hear his breathing right next to your ear, his breath tickling your skin.

“What’s your strategy now, hmm?” He taunted, his voice lower than usual.

You blushed at the sudden closeness and at his deep voice. He was taunting you, teasing you hard. You moved and attempted to set yourself free however you kept holding you in place. Using all your strength, you used your free hand to pull his arm away from your throat and twisted your body around before kicking him on his stomach. He fell back on his knees and looked up at you as you rubbed your arm that was previously twisted. Leo smirked again before letting out a battle cry and charged at you. You ran around the dojo, laughing as he chased you around, trying to take you down. However he used his ninja skills to suddenly disappear out of your site. You stopped running and looked around for Leo. Your eyes scanned the room but he was nowhere. Out of thin air, he appeared in front of you and tackled you down, pinning both your hands above your head with one of his large hands and used his other hand to tickle your sides. You laughed hysterically, squirming under him as he pressed his fingers on your ticklish sides.

“L-Leo! S-S-Stop!” You panted as you continued laughing, tears pricking your eyes.

He laughed too and then stopped, leaving room for you to finally breathe. You were both giggling like two children who had just finished playing a game of tag. After catching your breaths, you both looked at each other’s eyes. Leo could see his reflection on your E/C eyes and you could see yours in his sapphire ones. None of you spoke, you were both just staring at each other. Slowly, the leader started leaning in, it was a force beyond his control that pulled him to you. It had been merely a few months since you’d known each other and he really liked you. He didn’t quite understand whether it was the kind of like where you were his best friend or whether it was something deeper, stronger than that. That didn’t stop his body from leaning down to you whilst you were internally freaking out. Was he actually going to kiss you? Like in fanfictions? Your eyes began closing as his face was getting closer and closer to yours. Just as your noses touched, Mikey burst through the dojo doors, startling Leo off of you and landing next to you.

“Dude the latest episode of Super Robo Mecha Force Five is gonna play in 5 minutes! Get your shell in front of the TV before it starts!” He chimed in. He paused for a few seconds, seeing you and Leo’s red faces and then shrugged before exiting the dojo to sit back down with Jeremy, Raph, Donnie and April to watch the show.

“Latest episode huh? I’d like to watch that.” You said with a shy smile.

“Y-yeah me too!” Leo added, his voice slightly cracking which made you giggle and him blush even more.

“Come on.” You said before getting up and extended your hand out for him to grab. He took it and you both walked out to sit with the others.

Once you rejoined the team, you sat next to each other on the couch with Donnie and April on your other side. Raph was on the bean bag and Mikey was laying on his belly on the floor, his legs folding upwards like a child. He was the youngest of the brothers after all.

And with that, you all watched a new episode of the anime and after that was over, one of Studio Ghibli’s movies started playing and surprisingly, everyone still stayed. Guess everyone liked Studio Ghibli’s work. You knew you did. They were a piece of art. During the movie, you moved closer to Leo’s side, snuggling into him as you tried to get comfortable. Leo smiled at you and then wrapped his strong arms around you, helping you get comfortable as your eyes were glued to the screen.


	13. Of Rats and Men

“Ugh! I know they claimed. That pizza was gluten free, but I definitely tasted gluten.” Irma said as-a-matter-of-factly.

You, April, Casey and Irma had just come back from eating at an italian restaurant where the dark haired female ordered a pizza that she didn’t quite enjoy. Casey wasn’t a fan of you and Irma coming along with him and April, thinking that you had interrupted their so-called ‘date’. Casey suddenly yelped, dropping his bike on the ground after hearing and seeing a rat run past him, followed by a cat that had hissed at it. Irma teased the black haired boy of his fear of rats. April, on the other hand, was focused on the cat and decided to bring it to the turtles. So you three ditched Irma and went to the sewers in Casey's bike. Once arrived, you three went to Donnie lab where Mikey was eating ice cream. April asked if Mikey could take care of the animal and he immediately took her out of the red head’s hands and cuddled with her.

“You know, Master Splinter is a rat.” Donnie pointed out.

“Yeah, what if that cat goes nuts and attacks him? She could feed off his body for months.” Casey added, earning a cringe from the genius turtle.

“You know, there is something seriously wrong with you.” He said which made you giggle.

You and April noticed Mikey in the background acting agitated and looked panicked.

“Everything okay Mikey?” The redhead asked.

“Everything's cool. Cool like ice cream. Ice cream's cold.” Mikey replied before quickly exiting the lab and heading for the kitchen. You followed him and stopped by Raph who was hitting the dummy hard.

“I would not like to be the dummy right now.” You commented, watching the red masked turtle fight.

Raphael smirked before wiping the sweat off his forehead. “Heh. Mercilessly hitting my enemies is my specialty.” He said.

“I don’t doubt that.” You replied, returning the smirk.

“It’s not always the best approach to defeating enemies, Raph. Even Master Splinter said that.” A familiar voice contradicted. You looked behind you to see Leonardo with his hands on his hips.

Raph groaned. “Whatever, Leo. Let’s head to the kitchen, I’m too bored to argue with you.”

You and Leo exchanged looks before following the turtle to the kitchen where April, Casey and Donnie were. Mikey was also there however he was focused on what was inside the freezer. What you saw next was disturbing but hilarious at the same time. With his shell facing you, he was hugging himself whilst making licking sounds.

“Mikey.” Leo called and the orange masked turtle swiftly slammed the freezer shut, his wide eyes looking at the rest of you as spices fell on his head.

“Uh, I didn't do it! I swear I never touched it, and-” Mikey started but Raph cut him off.

“What are you babbling about?”

Then grunting was heard and you all looked to your left to see Splinter, with a hand on his head and overall looking unwell, slowly walked over to the freezer, saying he wanted ice for his head and a cheesickle. Mikey however protested and stopped him from opening it for some reason. Then, out of nowhere, he screamed and hit Mikey who fell back against the wall. Splinter, with red eyes, hissed and chased after him. Mikey acted fast and parkoured over the table, running around the kitchen whilst Casey was cowering in fear. Splinter however caught up to Mikey and pushed him against the fridge and just as he was about to attack again, the turtle brothers held him against the table. The rat master was too strong as he freed himself from his sons’ grasp and stood up, his hands half-way in the air. You and April went to Mikey and helped him up. Mikey hugged your side and you wrapped your arms around him protectively.

“I've got what I came for. Soon New York and the world will be mine!” Splinter said before collapsing on the table.

“Sensei, are you okay?” Leo asked, running to his father’s side.

“What happened?” April asked.

“The Rat King has returned.” He replied, his ears low and his eyes filled with worry and concern.

“The what now?” You asked.

“The Rat King, previously known as Dr. Falco. He was formerly a scientist who studied-” Donnie was about to explain however Raph put his large hand over his mouth to shut him up.

“Basically a bad guy who controls rats with his mind.” The red clad turtle answered briefly before letting go of his taller brother who glared at him.

Just then, your phone rang and you took it out to see Jeremy’s ID. You answered the call and you heard him scream.

“Y/N!! You’ve gotta help me! There are these HUGE rats running around the city and kidnapping people! They already took Michael!” He panicked. Behind, you could hear the screaming of terrified citizens and cars crashing.

“Where are you?” You asked.

“Bleecker street. Please hurry! I can only hold off a few!” Jeremy grunted.

“Hang tight, man, help is on the way!” You replied before ending the call. “Quick, turn on the TV and check channel six news!”

Right after, you all went to the living room and turned on the TV where the news reporter explained the situation and it was just like what Jeremy was saying; giant rats invaded the city and were taking people away to the sewers. One even took the reporter away and the cameraman. Casey gulped and sat on the couch with his shoulders slumped forward as he couldn’t believe that his worst fear was running around the city. Leo asked help from Splinter, saying that the last time he took down the Rat King with one punch. Splinter argued that it was different back then and that he was much stronger now. Either way, Splinter stayed behind as Leo gathered the group and told his plan. You and him were in the Shellraiser whilst April, Raph and Donnie were on the go karts with Mikey on his skateboard, holding a rope attached to the back of the small vehicle with a large piece of cheese tied to his head. Yes, he was bait. Casey surprisingly tagged along on his bike.

Once outside in the rain, the plan was a go as multiple rats began following Mikey. Leo was about to drive past the others but you spotted Jeremy with a pipe in his hands and rats surrounding him.

“Ram those rats surrounding Jeremy!” You told Leo and he followed your order. He slammed the rats with the vehicle and stopped for a second. You opened the door and Jeremy rushed inside, panting like a tired dog. “Go Leo!” He started the engine again and went after Mikey. As Donnie was driving the kart, the road in front of him was blocked by crashed cars and more rats however Leo sped up the Shellraiser and got in front of him and cleared the road by ramming into the large rodents.

“Sorry we’re late!” Leo said before he slowed down the vehicle, letting the kart go in front of him.

Jeremy gave you a questioning look and you simply shrugged. The leader saw the rat jump onto the go-kart and he pushed a button that triggered the trash canon to go through the hatch to the roof and shoot balls of trash at the rat, knocking it off. The moment Leo made a turn, more rats ambushed the Shellraiser and knocked it to the side, making you, Leo and Jeremy fall down.

“Are you both okay back there?” Leo asked as he rubbed his head.

“We’re fine.” You replied. “We have to get this thing up again.”

“Through the hatch.” Leo said as he pointed at the red hatch right in front of you.

You opened it, pushing the lid open and crawled out. You grabbed Jeremy’s hand and pulled him out as well as Leo. The rain had stopped and the rats were all gone. Dr. Falco must have accomplished whatever he wanted on the surface. Suddenly you heard grunting and you looked to see Leo trying to flip the Shellraiser to its wheels again. As he was doing that, his muscles were flexing, some of his veins popping out in response to the effort. You found yourself staring at him for a few seconds before snapping out of it. Concentrating, you transformed to Winter and placed your hand on the ground. Ice was created and circled around the vehicle. Leo noticed the icy floor and backed away. With one quick flick on your wrist, an ice block shot out of the ground right below the Shellraiser and knocked it onto its wheels. The two male looked at you in awe which made you blush.

“Looks like you’re getting the hang of your powers, Y/N. That was pretty awesome.” Leo commented as he went back inside the Shellraiser through the regular door with you and Jeremy following behind.

“Hell yeah.” You replied as he started the engine.

“We’re heading back to the lair. I’m sure Master Splinter will have some things to tell us about the Rat King’s plan.” Leo said before driving to the lair.

Once arrived, you three joined the others in the living room however you noticed that Casey was nowhere to be seen. Oh no, he must have been kidnapped by one of the giant rats. Master Splinter stood in the center with his green staff in his hands.

“The Rat King peered into my mind. To see what makes me unique. With that knowledge, he will create an army of rat people.” He explained.

“We’ve gotta stop him, Sensei.” Raph said, punching his own palm.

“I told you, he is too powerful. Even for me.”

“But, Master Splinter, if there's one time we could use your help, it's now.” Leo persisted however he hit his staff on the ground sternly.

“Enough! I will not put you in danger again.” He said with furrowed eyebrows. He didn’t want his children hurt, you couldn’t blame.

“We believe in you, Sensei.” April spoke, sitting up from the couch. “We need your help and so does Casey.

“Michael too!” Jeremy added. “Listen uh, Sir, I was a jerk to him last year, I left him for selfish reasons and I promised I wasn’t going to leave him again.”

You heard Splinter hesitate for a second, a hum coming out of his mouth however he walked away. Whether he helped or not, you were all still determined to save the people and so everyone got ready. Each turtle grabbed a few smoke bombs, Raph twirled his sais, Leo made a couple of moves in the dojo and Mikey was in the kitchen. Once everyone was ready, you were about to head out but Jeremy was stopped by Leo.

“You’ll have to stay here, Jeremy. It could be dangerous.”

“What?! My best friend is in there! I have to be there for him!” the curly haired boy protested.

“We can’t risk you getting hurt or mutated into a rat.”

“He’s my best friend for God’s sake! I can’t just stand here and do nothing while he’s scared shitless!”

“I’m telling you it’s too danger-”

Jeremy was not having Leo’s protective bullshit. Blue circuits formed under his eyes and he gritted his teeth. Swiftly, out of nowhere, Jeremy grabbed Leo’s arm and twisted behind his shell. Everyone was astonished to see the skinny boy surprise attack the leader turtle himself. However Jeremy’s eyes widened and he let go of Leo, backing away and began sweating profusely.

“Oh my God I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t know what came over me! Y-You’re the leader- I-I’ll just-” He stuttered however Leo stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

“You’ve convinced me. Only because we don’t have much time to argue. Now c’mon!”

You smiled at the leader before you all exited the living room and headed to the Rat King’s lair. It didn’t take long as Falco’s evil laughter could be heard from a mile away. The lair was small, multiple floors up but the ground was broken so you had easy access to each floor. Above, dozens of cages holding people were suspended. As you all sneaked inside, April was relieved to see Casey alive but was surprised to see Irma in the same cage as the masked vigilante. You and Jeremy also saw Michael in the same cage and you were both relieved as well. Donnie told April that she and Jeremy had to free the humans to avoid being seen by them and they agreed. Leo felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked back to see Splinter.

“It is time the Rat King is dethroned.” He spoke.

“I knew you wouldn’t let us down!” Leo said happily.

“If I should lose control, you do what you have to do.”

Seconds after, the turtles, along with Splinter, made their move whilst April and Jeremy went to the cages. Being human and wanting to help your kind (even though you weren’t always a fan of them), you followed April and your close friend. You three sneaked around and noticed the rat sleeping next to the level that would let one of the cages down. On cue, it woke up and went up where the turtles were so you took that opportunity to head to the lever and pull it which made the cage hit the floor and the three teens were free. Michael ran to Jeremy and they hugged which made you smile as you went to the other levers and pulled them down until everyone was free. April and Jeremy led them out and Donnie told her that she should go with them too, saying that he and his brothers had everything under their control. You noticed April kindly smile back at the purple masked turtle before running off.

“Aren’t you gonna follow her?” Donnie asked you.

“And miss an opportunity to kick some ass? No way.” You replied with a smirk, feeling more confident. “Besides-” You closed your eyes and then mist came out of your palms and your hair was still white from your previous transformation. You opened your eyes again and they glowed. “-If I were to learn to control these powers, I’ll need some practice.”

“Fair enough.” Donnie replied before you both jumped up to the floor above the ground where a few rats were.

A rat landed in front of you and you created an ice fist around your hand before punching it straight in its face, knocking it out. You kept doing so until you were done with a few of them. Above you, you saw Leo falling off the floor, heading down. However you created an ice slide in front of you and Leo landed on it, sliding towards you and inevitably crashing into you. You both groaned and your face felt warm as Leo was on top of you with his face inches away from yours.

“Thanks for the save.” He said, panting slightly.

“N-No problem.” You stuttered as he got up. He extended his hand out and you grabbed it so he could pull you up to your feet. You both then climbed to the top floor where Mikey, Raph and Donnie were

“Ha! I think that’s all the rats.” Raph proudly said.

“But what about Sensei?” Leo asked as he helped you up.

“This is Master Splinter we’re talking about, dude. He’s totally got it!” Mikey replied, carrying the ice box with him.

“He’s right.” You added with a smile, lightly punching Leo’s arm. “He’ll be fine.”

The leader smiled back at you. “I’m impressed, Y/N. You handled yourself like a champ today.”

“Thanks, I’m just doing my part in the team.” You replied, blushing from his compliment.

“Y’know Elsa, if you really wanna control your powers-” Mikey started with a devilish smirk.

“Oh no.”

“Mikey, no!”

“I swear if you-”

“-then you should-”

**“MIKEY!”** His brother yelled.

**“-LET IT GO! Haha!"**


	14. Turtles and I

“Hey guys!” You greeted the turtles as you entered the lair with a bright smile. Walking inside with your F/C t-shirt and black jeans with a F/C flannel tied around your waist, you were practically glowing.

You had a great day in school; Christine Cannigula, the head of the Arts Committee announced that she announced the musical of the year which was Beauty and the Beast. Seen as you loved musicals, you had decided to audition for the main character, Belle however you put Mrs. Potts as a second option. The audition was in a week so you had time to prepare. You had also received a decent grade for your Language and Literature test. Finally, Gunter had come to school and had told you that he would be leaving for Germany to live with his mother. What had surprised you was that he had worn an oversized hoodie with pants and converse, no longer his pastel coloured clothes. That was when you knew you had done something good and that he was on the road of recovery. His father was arrested for illegal activity and his lab in his room was shut down.

“Y/N!” Mikey greeted back with a bear hug that you returned. His hugs were just the best and you could never get enough of them. “You came in just in time. I had stuff ready for baking cookies! Wanna join?”

“Cookies? Sign me up!” You agreed and then he dragged you to the kitchen where he has laid out all the materials. “Chocolate chip, eh?”

“They’re my favourite.”

“Honestly, same.”

“Right, let’s get baking!”

You went to the oven and preheated it at 175°C and then joined Mikey in front of the large bowl. Grabbing the baking soda, you put 1 teaspoon in a small bowl and dissolved it whilst Mikey creamed butter, white sugar and brown sugar until it was smooth. Whilst you beat the eggs one at a time along with adding vanilla in the big bowl, Mikey went to grab the flour in the cabinet however he tripped and the flour spilled on the table and all over you and the orange masked turtle. Seeing him fall made you laugh out loud and soon enough he laughed too. He got up and added the flour in the bowl along with the chocolate chips and dissolved baking soda. Once every ingredient was inside, Mikey not-so-discreetly jabbed his finger inside the bowl and took it out, covered with the dough. He cautiously liked it before his eyes went wide and he nearly ate his finger off whilst finishing the dough he took.

“Well?” You asked.

“You gotta try it! Words. Not responding!” He replied, forming half sentences as you could practically see his brain explode from what he had tasted. Curious, you took a sample of the dough and ate it.

“Shit.” You cursed as you felt your tongue be overwhelmed by a mix of delicious flavour from the chocolate to the sugar. You hummed with closed eyes, taking in the moment you were having.

“Y/N, you’re officially my second chef in command.” Mikey stated, giving you a side hug.

“Mikey can I just? Adopt you? You’re so adorable, my heart just can’t take it!” You asked, placing your hands on his shoulders.

“Be my older sister?” He suggested, also placing his hands on your shoulders, intensely looking into your eyes.

“Of course, duh!” You replied before bringing the shorter turtle in a bear hug that he returned with a happy grin.

“How long has it been since we’ve met?” He inquired, still enveloped in your arms.

“Little over 3 months?”

“Really? Feels like years! It must be because I love you!”

_Oh my gOd. He loves mE._

You couldn’t contain it anymore. You let out a loud squeal as you squeezed Mikey out of pure joy. “I love you too!”

After giggling like 5 year olds, you both let go of each other and proceeded to put in small balls of dough in the parchment paper on top of the tray. Once the tray was full, you put it inside the oven and set the timer. Mikey put the rest of the dough inside the fridge and you both exchanged a fist-bump.

“Michelangelo, Y/N, what are you both baking?” Splinter asked from behind you, startling you in the process.

“Chocolate chip cookies! You should totally try one after they’re baked!” Mikey beamed.

“It’s made with love.” You added as you swung your arm around Mikey’s shoulders.

“I definitely will.” He smiled.

“Mikey, we’re on patrol duty.” Leo’s voice chimed in.

“Already? But the cookies aren’t done!” The younger turtle whined.

“The cookies can wait, Mikey. We have to move.” Leo’s eyes then flickered over to your E/C ones. “Wanna join?”

“Sure.” You nodded and then looked at Splinter. “Would you mind watching over the cookies while we’re out?”

“Of course.”

You smiled before grabbing Mikey’s hand and leaving the lair. The turtles moved quickly through the sewers and you did your best to keep up however they were running too fast for you and you were getting tired. Mikey slowed down and grabbed your hand and helped you reach the same speed as his brother until you reached the manhole cover. Leo went up first and slightly opened it, checking to see if the coast was clear. Once it was, you all went up and then swiftly jumped into the dark alley. The turtles began their climb up and you looked up.

_Hell no._

You ran up the stairs, attempting to catch up to the ninjas and once you reached the rooftop, you stopped running for a minute to catch your breath.

“Having a hard time keeping up princess?” Raph asked with a smirk.

“Hey you’re a mutant, aight? Y’all got your enhanced speed or whatever.” You rebutted with furrowed eyebrows.

“Aren’t you technically a mutant too, with your powers and all?”

“Not entirely, Raph.” Donnie corrected. “Superhuman would be a more appropriate word.”

“Hear that? You’re super!” Mikey cheered as he patted your back.

“Yaaaayy.” You sarcastically cheered back before straightening up your posture.

“Think you can keep going?” Leo asked. You looked up at him with a smirk as you backed away until you reached the ledge of the roof. “H-hey back away from there!”

“Oh I can keep up alright.” You said before letting yourself fall back as the turtle brothers screamed your name. Wind rushed through your hair as your body fell. However, with the adrenaline rushing through your veins, your powers came to you and you shot the ground with two powerful ice blasts that pushed you to fly up as high as the rooftop. Your knees bent as you landed on the ground and you looked at the boys who had wide eyes. “Boom.” You looked at them proudly with your E/C and now snowy white hair.

_Funny how I used to be so scared of doing anything regarding my powers. Ever since I met the turtles, it’s like they opened a door I never dared to approach. The door that lead me to become one with my powers. I mean, I still have a lot to learn and I don’t know the extent of my powers… but little by little, I’ll get there and I’ll be okay._ You thought to yourself.

Mikey clapped. “Superhero landing!”

“I’ve been practising.” You added.

“Oh my God, Y/N, you nearly gave me a heart attack.” Leo said as his hand was placed on his chest where his heart was.

“Impressive.” Raph commented with a sly look.

“Looks like you’re getting the hang of your powers, Y/N.” Donnie observed with a smile.

“Yeah. I thought… Instead of running away from Winter, I could be one with her.” You said. “Let’s get patrolling!”

As soon as you said that, you surfed on the ice platform you created in the air, moving forward just as quickly as the turtles. The cool wind breeze gently kissed your S/C (skin colour) skin as you moved through the air right next to the turtles. However that moment ended shortly when Leo told the team to stop because he felt that none of you were alone. That was when Footbots, Rahzar and Karai jumped out of nowhere and attacked. While you and Raph were busy with the bots, Donnie and Mikey fought Rahzar and Leo had a duel with Karai. Feeling mad that Karai nearly killed you by bringing you to her father last time, you quickly managed to destroy the bots attacking you before making your way to the two swordsmen. You heard Leo trying to tell Karai something about her real father and her real name being Miwa. Of course she didn’t listen and for a split second, you threw ice spikes at her from behind however she had sensed them as she turned around and blocked them with her sword. Running to her, you held two long spikes in your hands and they collided with her sword. She smirked at you.

“Well lookie here, if it isn’t Y/N the popsicle. Tell me, where’d you get those powers of yours?” She asked.

“Hah! Good luck trying to replicate this. I was born with them, you snake!” You spat.

“Y/N, stay out of this!” Leo interrupted as he swung his swords in the center of you both, separating you two. He then turned his back at you and faced the kunoichi. “Karai, listen to me!”

“There’s nothing to-”

Suddenly, the ground began shaking, interrupting the black and blond haired girl from snapping back at Leo. It lasted a minute or two before it stopped however a nearby tower started falling on top of Karai. Leo sprung into action and pushed her out of the way, putting him under the falling structure. He began running, hoping to escape it but you knew he wouldn’t make it and so you gathered your speed and sprinted over to him and created a thick ice dome around you and the leader as the tower collapsed.

“Are you okay?” You asked Leo and he nodded in response. “Good good… Now what the hell were you thinking?! Pushing the enemy out of harm’s way?!” Leo winced at your sudden outburst but you didn’t regret it. You hand your hands on your hips and your upper body leaned forward slightly. Your eyebrows furrowed and you had a frown on your lips.

“Y/N, she’s not the enemy.” Leo said calmly.

“She’s not-? She-? She’s not the enemy-?” You tried to make out words as you were utterly shocked by what he had just said. “Dude. She’s trying to kill you and your family! In what world does that NOT make her the enemy?”

“Because the Shredder fed her lies for her entire life! She’s Splinter’s daughter!”

“What?!”

“Splinter thought he lost his daughter in the fire that night but in reality, Shredder took her and raised her to hate him and for killing her mother.”

You paused, taking in what Leo had just told you. Your enemy, Karai, who tried to kill you and your mutant family, was actually Splinter’s long lost daughter. And Leo was trying to tell her the truth. His heart was in the right place. God, that was one of the reasons you loved him. The tension eased up however you didn’t lower your guard too fast.

“She was raised by Shredder, Leo. His twisted values are also hers.”

“There’s good in her, I know it. Since the day I saw her, I knew she wasn’t our enemy.”

The way Leo said this, it made your heart sting. His voice sounded determined and you could tell in blue ocean blue eyes that he really wanted Karai to be on the good side. You saw sadness and guilt. So much that you wondered if being Splinter’s daughter was the only reason why he was so desperate to reason with her. You let out a frustrated sigh.

“Let’s just get out of here.” You mumbled before swiftly extending your arms which made the ice dome burst open. You both stepped out and he looked around for Karai.

“Oh, no, she's gone! I could've changed everything. Now it's too late.”

You crossed your arms and looked down, feeling annoyed by his desperation for Karai. A few seconds passed before you all started making your way back to the lair. On the way there, your phone rang and you looked to see it was Jeremy. You picked up.

“Hey.”

“Hey did you also feel the earthquake?” He asked.

“Yup. It’s weird.” You replied.

“Totally! Michael and I just passed level 10 of Apocalypse of the Damned before the ground just shook and we lost!”

You chuckled. “That’s unfortunate timing.”

“Yeah… Think the turtles will find out why there was an earthquake? It’s not normal for that to happen here in New York.”

“Donnie’s on it.”

“Woah, that’s cool. Then I guess I’ll leave you guys to do your duties!” With that, he ended the call.

Once you had all arrived in the lair, Raph and Mikey turned on the TV to check the news whilst Donnie went to his lab and Leo left to the dojo. You joined the two turtles in front of the TV and watched the news. The reporter was calling the quakes “microquakes” but they shook so hard it messed his hair up. Raph said that something was definitely wrong and so he went to Donnie’s lab and you and Mikey joined him. The genius turtle had graphed the earthquake epicenters and commented on how they weren’t random. He added that he got weird energy readings under the epicenter and that some kind of technology could be the cause of this.

You were all interrupted when Leo came into the lab and asked that the turtles join him and Master Splinter in the dojo, that Splinter had something important to say. Leo gave you a knowing look and your eyes squinted, your eyebrows furrowed and your arms were crossed. You knew exactly what Splinter was going to tell them so you had no intention of joining the others and decided to stay in the lab. When you were completely alone, you began walking around, exploring and looking for anything interesting. Your fingers glided across the tables that held chemicals, small machines and blueprints. Donatello was definitely a man - er - turtle of science. If he was human, he would’ve graduated by now and probably would be in some pricey science school, excelling in every class and having girls chase after him.

Because come on, nerdy is the new sexy.

A chuckle escaped your lips at the thought of the shy turtle getting asked out by 6 girls. His face would be as red as Raph’s mask.

However your alone time was interrupted when the turtles came back and at the same time, April and Casey also made their appearance. The turtles were surprised to see their two human friends but they were even more surprised when April showed a piece of Kraang technology in her hands.

“And then you press this button.” She said as she let go of the device which didn’t fall but instead floated in the air. She pressed the button and a pink triangular portal opened. “And portable portal.”

“Neat.” You commented.

“Wow! The Kraang are always one step ahead. I wonder if this is what's behind the earthquakes.” Donnie examined as his eyes scanned it. “We're gonna have to test it.”

“I don't know, Donnie. You think that's a good idea?” Leo asked, sounding unsure.

“If you turtles are gonna be slow about it, I'm going.” Casey interrupted, stepping in front of the turtles and stopped right in front of the portal.

“You're crazy! Nuts! Out of your gourd!” Raph snapped, pushing Casey. However he then smirked and pointed his thumb at himself. “I'm going first.” He then ran inside and disappeared behind the pink triangle.

“Raph!” Leo called.

“Come on, Red!” Casey pulled April to the portal.

“April, wait for me!” Donnie then joined, catching up to his rival.

“Can't let them go alone, dude.” Mikey said before performing a diving motion as he went inside.

“Mikey! Ah.” The leader groaned, slapping his forehead which made you giggle. He looked over at you with a deadpan look.

“Like Mikey said, Fearless, we shouldn’t leave them alone. Let’s go.” You reminded. Leo sighed before stepping forward with you following right behind him and just as he was about to enter, he turned back and outstretched his hand out for you to hold.

“Together.” He said with a small smile. You smiled back at him and grabbed his hand, holding it tightly as if this was the last time you’d hold them.

With that, you both went inside the portal.


	15. The Manhattan Project, part 1

On the other side, everyone was baffled. There wasn’t a sky, no floor and there was just a hallway of pink triangular portals. You were surrounded by a mixture of blue, white and black. It felt like you were standing on air. You realized you and Leo were still holding hands and you both looked at each other for a few seconds before pulling your hands away, blushing slightly.

“Wow! It's like the grand central station of dimensional travel! The Kraang must use it as a gateway between realities.” Donnie analyzed enthusiastically. However as he said that, right behind you, the portal where you and Leo came out from closed, startling you. Your hair was still white seen as you were still feeling the adrenaline.

“Guys, the door's gone! We're trapped!” Mikey yelped.

“There’s thousands of doors, any one of them could lead us back home.” You said.

“Everyone, start searching!” Leo ordered as you both walked down the space hall, looking through every door. One of them caught your eye and you stopped in your tracks.

There, you saw yourself, an older and evil version of yourself with Donnie’s and Mikey’s masks wrapped around her bicep. Her hair was tied up and it was white, her eyes were white and her skin was much lighter. She wore a skin tight suit with a leather jacket and big boots. It was obvious she was a villain. More importantly, she was standing on the road, an ice spike in her hands and pointing it at an older and badly injured Raph and Leo. Raph was on the ground, holding his bleeding stomach whilst Leo held his sword out, shaking from the cold winter night.

“Y/N please! I know you’re in there!” The injured Leo called as your evil self slowly walked towards him. “Please… I don’t want to fight you...!”

“But I want to.” She replied, her voice echoing, like you when you start losing control.

“No you don’t, Y/N-”

“My name is **Winter**, Leonardo. I haven’t let Y/N out in years, she’s dead by now.”

Leo gasped, falling to his knees, his fists clenching. As you witnessed this, your hands made its way on top of your mouth, holding in your heavy breathing. Your eyes landed on Leo’s hand, more specifically, his finger where a ring was.

“Oh my love…” Winter cooed, bending over and lifting Leo’s chin, making him look at her icy eyes. “You and Y/N were so perfect for each other. She was foolish to suppress me when I’m a vital part of her. My powers could have benefitted her and the team. But instead, Donatello just had to stop me from coming out by making that god damned serum. And then what? Y/N trained and trained to be a kunoichi? Pathetic. She had everything and instead of embracing me, she blocked me. She paid for it, and now, so will you.” She placed her lips on Leo and then in a flash, his face turned to ice and so did the rest of his body. She chuckled and as Raph got up, she threw the spike at his head. A sigh escaped her lips, mist forming in the air as she did so. She lifted her hand and fiddled with a ring on her annular finger. That was when it clicked to you.

Unintentionally, you let out a gasp which made her snap her head up to look directly in your scared E/C eyes. She chuckled evilly.

“So young. That must have been hard to watch, hmm? Either way, nothing will change.” Her eyes lightly glowed, piercing in your eyes. “The future will not change, Y/N.”

Upon hearing her threat, your fists clenched and you punched the piece of Kraang technology that powered the portal, sending it flying. Everyone’s eyes turned to you.

“I’ll never be like you.” You muttered under your breath. You flinched when a hand was firmly placed on top of your shoulder which made you quickly turn around only to see Leo’s friendly face.

“Everything okay?” He asked.

“Of course!” You chimed, a bit too cheerfully. “I just uh… saw a bigass spider that was about to jump on me and y’know my reflexes just kicked in ‘cause screw those hairy bastards am I right?”

Leo looked at you with wide eyes, processing what you had just said in one breath. After a pause, he shrugged and pointed at where the others grouped. You followed him and joined the flock, looking through the portal. There, on the other side of the pink triangle, were 7 very familiar figures; Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michaelangelo, April O’Neil, Casey Jones and you, Y/N L/N. However they all looked slightly different, they were more cartoony and the turtles looked less distinguishable from each other. April and Casey were much older and you… looked the same but more cartoony. Actually, everyone looked more cartoony!

“It’s us!” Mikey commented. “Why do we look like dorks?”

“Is that supposed to be April?” Raph asked, pointing at the older April who had short hair and a yellow jumpsuit with a low cleavage. You looked over at Donnie with a smirk as he stared at her with hearts in his eyes.

“Nice jumpsuit!” He said in awe which made you chuckle at his cuteness.

“Guys, look! I think it’s Dimension X.” Leo called, looking through another portal.

“Home of the Kraang.” Raph whispered to Casey, clarifying his confusion.

“This place is making my brain melt!” Mikey squeaked but before he could speak any loudy, April placed her hand on his mouth, hushing him.

“I-I sense something coming.” April warned and right after she said that, on the other side of the portal, two blue gorilla Kraang robots on a flying platform marched towards you.

“Oh no! How do you close the door? Where's the-the knob? Where's the knob? They're onto us!” Raph panicked.

“Get ready team!” Leo said as he got into a fighting position with his katanas out. You stood next to him with large ice spikes in your hands.

Electricity shot out of the portal just as two Kraangs flew out fast. They went high and then back down, shooting lasers at your group. You all moved away as one of the aliens ordered the “biodroids” to destroy you. One of the robot gorillas came through the portal and attempted to grab Mikey, but missed. Donnie then flipped towards it and kicked it away however another came through and began attacking Mikey. The freckled turtle waved his nunchucks at it however it simply slapped him away. He fell back and that was when Casey jumped over him in his skates, his hockey stick in his hands. He jumped up and hit the Kraang, causing it to fall back onto April. However, right on time, Donnie managed to push her away with his staff. You saw that happen and you had to admit the way he saved her was pretty fucking rad. Speaking of rad, oh boy was it hard for you to concentrate on the flying alien that was shooting at you because of a certain leader that was making you drool.

One of the gorilla droids charged at him with - get this- chainsaw nipples. Yeah I couldn’t have made that up if I could. Either way, as the chainsaws shot out to strike Leo, he graciously flipped in the air, twisted his body to avoid the saws and also used his katana to block them. He landed back on the ground and moved backwards whilst Raph ran up behind the gorilla. You felt your cheeks grow warm after seeing that however your moment was interrupted when you felt an electric shock on your arm. You yelped and looked up to see the alien with a smug grin on its squishy brain face. With a low growl, you shot ice spiked towards it and one of the spikes hit its flying vehicle, causing it to malfunction and fly uncontrollably. You chuckled evilly and joined the three brothers fighting the gorilla. However before you could do anything, Leo jumped up in the air once more and sliced it, making the alien crawl out and escape. Just when you thought you were done, the other gorilla charged towards you, Raph, Leo and Mikey. You all stood your ground however it knocked you all off your feet, causing you to fall into one of the portals. Donnie, April and Casey were just about to go after you but one of the Kraang aliens turned the portal off and flew away.

The three brothers landed in New York’s smelliest dumpster whilst you hit your ass on the cold hard ground, making you yelp in pain and grab your butt cheeks. Raph and Leo stood back up, stepping on all of the trash inside the dumpster and their eyes landed on you rubbing your butt.

“I landed on my ass, aight? It hurts.” You deadpanned, crossing your arms.

“Guys, what dimension are we in?” Mikey asked with a groan. More importantly, he had a lamp covering his eyes, preventing him from seeing that he was back in New York. You went to him and removed it so he could see again.

Leo got out and looked up at the sky. “The others are trapped over there!” He said.

“Yeah, and the smart member of the team is trapped with them.” Raph added, clearly frustrated. He and Mikey got off of the dumpster and the hot head stomped to the leader. “This is your fault, Leo. If you hadn't gotten us-”

An earthquake interrupted him mid sentence, causing you all to lose your balance and even though the brothers still stood, your clumsy ass fell on the ground again.

“Ow!” You yelped and you swore you heard Leo chuckle.

“C’mon. We got to find the source of these quakes.” Leo ordered as he helped you to your feet and you all started making your way down the alley, heading for the surprisingly deserted streets. However, before you could continue, a large figure landed in front of you.

Your cheeks became warm upon seeing the person, or should you say, mutant in front of you. He was a large Bengal tiger mutant with a blue scarf and a bandolier full of replacement bullets. He carried several weapons and you were only able to see his firearm and jetpack. He was a good 6 and a half foot tall and had razor sharp claws and teeth. Not to mention how buff he was.

“Who the heck is that?!” Raph shrieked.

“Oh my lord Jesus, send me to Hell for finding this guy hot.” You muttered to yourself.

“You may call me, Tiger Claw.” The mutant said in an intimidating voice with a light Japanese accent.

“He even has a badass name.” You whispered, feeling yourself drool over this hot new villain. Leo noticed this and felt irritated.

“I knew it! I was totally gonna name him Tigerclaw!” Mikey spoke.

“I ask only once. Summon your rat master.” He ordered as he took out his gun and pointed it at you four.

“Sorry, pal! I’m not a cat person.” Raph barked but then immediately moved out of the way when Tiger Claw shot him. He kept shooting whilst Raph kept avoiding however he eventually got hit.

“Raph!” Leo called and then charged at the tiger mutant, thrusting his katanas at him. However Tiger Claw back flipped, avoiding Leo’s attacks and landed back on the ground before shooting Leo. The leader fell back and landed on his stomach whilst Mikey froze upon seeing Tiger Claw aim his now two guns at him.

“You are nothing but cubs.” He commented with a low growl.

“Time out! Time out!” You spoke loudly, making a cross sign with your two hands. “Okay, like, can I just say? You’re one fine mutant right there and your level of badassery is just on the top. You’re so in my list villain crushes.” You rambled excitedly, earning a confused look from Mikey and Tiger Claw.

“You seriously have a list of villain crushes?” Mikey asked.

“Who doesn’t? Villains these days have so much personality. Take Loki for example. He’s on my top 5!” You squealed.

Having enough of you, Tiger Claw roared and began shooting his second gun and to your surprise, it shot ize. It was a freeze ray. The turtles and you moved away as he shot his weapons.

“Dude we could totally be ice buddies with that gun of yours!” You commented with a cheeky smile. He replied with a growl and shot you, however you dodged it. “You’ll learn to love me!”

“Y/N, I swear-”

“Come on, bros, we got to get to high ground!” Mikey suggested, interrupting Leo just as he was about to scold you.

The younger turtle climbed up the fire escape from the building next to him and you all followed him. You just flew up ‘cause screw working out your arms. Tiger Claw, however, flew after you thanks to his jetpack. He kept shooting whilst you all kept dodging and counter-attacking. There were so many times you tried to freeze in place but he would always jump up before you could. After continuously fighting, Raph suddenly got pinned down by Tiger Claw’s net that he shot out. He took Mikey’s leg and picked him up, hovering him over a burning chimney hole that got formed by one of the earthquakes.

“You are defeated. Summon your master, or the little one goes into the furnace.” He spoke. Feeling your big sister mode activate, you froze the ground and as it was about to reach Tiger Claw’s legs, he shot you with a dart right at your neck. “I do not think so, girl.”

“Y/N!” Leo gasped, catching you in his arms as you fell back unconscious, your hair returning to its original colour.

“Summon your master.” Tiger Claw ordered again.

“Don’t do it Leo!” Mikey begged.

“It’s a trap for Splinter!” Raph added.

“Of course it's a trap. Tell me the part where I have a choice.” Leo argued.

Leo had no choice but to obey Tiger Claw and so he took out his T-phone and called Splinter. The rat master answered quickly and Leo explained the situation. The moment Leo ended the call, Tiger Claw shot a net at him, trapping him in the tight ropes while you were laying on the ground next to him. The mutant tiger tied the three brothers and you together, with you still being knocked out. Getting tired of waiting, Tiger Claw claimed that your lives would end here and now. He then began to push you all very slowly toward the side of the chimney, and Mikey used this moment to apologize to Raph for having eaten his very last slice of chocolate-pepperoni Pizza. Just when all seemed lost, Splinter arrived on the scene and told Tiger Claw to set his children free.

After having a short conversation with Splinter in Japanese, Tiger Claw started firing freeze-rays at Splinter with one of his weapons, but Splinter dodged all of the attacks. Splinter then jumped down to the platform where Tiger Claw was, but the latter moved out of the way by using his jetpack. While being shot at, Splinter managed to weave through the blasts and used his cane to launch pieces of brick at Tiger Claw. This did actually knock him off-balance for a second, but he then took his large sword out of its holster and claimed that he would slice Splinter into nothing but bite-sized morsels.

As they were fighting, dozens upon dozens of ninja shuriken and other weapons were being passed between them in their duel. During the fray, Tiger Claw managed to destroy Splinter's cane by slicing it into pieces, but this did little to stop Splinter, as he started avoiding Tiger Claw's attacks and gained a sheer advantage when he seized his opponent's sword. Splinter then started slowly pushing Tiger Claw toward an edge of the building with open-fisted strikes to pressure points near his chest and torso. Master Splinter aimed the sword directly at Tiger Claw, intending to finish him off, but, just out of sight, Karai was holding a blowgun in both of her hands and she fired a dart out of it, managing to hit Splinter in the back of the neck. Splinter reacted to the attack by pulling out the dart, but the poison reached him and he began to lose his balance and fell over, sprawled on the ground. Karai then appeared from behind a corner and stood over Splinter, smiling at her victory.

“Miwa…” Splinter whispered before finally passing out.

“Karai. Karai, don't do this. Splinter. He's your father, your true father.” Leo assured her.

“Liar! You’d say anything to save him.” Karai spat.

“No, I swear it. He's your father Hamato Yoshi.” Leo continued however Karai had had enough of him and raised her sword at him.

“If you won't be silent, I'll silence you.” She threatened and was about to slay the blue masked leader.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me.” You groaned, starting to wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scene where Reader sees her evil self from the portal is inspired by The Flash season 3 when Caitlin turned into Killer Frost.
> 
> hell, Reader's powers is based off of Killer Frost.
> 
> so yeah... you're Killer Frost guys


	16. The Manhattan Project, part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder that F/N = Father Name and M/N = Mother Name

Karai prepared to slay Leo once and for all, but her attack was suddenly blocked by one of Tiger Claw's swords. He reminded her that the Shredder wanted to have the pleasure of eliminating the turtles himself. Karai reluctantly agreed, and the two then began to approach the paralysed Splinter. The rat master quickly stood up, mumbling something under his breath and threw a few of his several remaining ninja stars at the ropes binding you and his sons, which ended up freeing you all. He instructed you and his sons to flee, just as he was kicked back down by Tiger Claw. Leo didn’t want to leave his sensei for dead, but Raph told him that they had no other option but to come back for him later. Raph had your arm around his shoulder to help you walk since you were still drugged. Tiger Claw quickly began to chase you, but Mikey used a ninja smoke bomb to make your escape. So, both Tiger Claw and Karai felt the need to take the unconscious Splinter back to the Shredder.

Back at the lair, Leo puts a wrap around one of the wounds on Mikey's arm. The young brother winced at the pain. Raph then threw the ice pack on the ground before stomping over to the leader and blamed him for getting Splinter involved.

“I didn’t have a choice Raph. It was him or Mikey! I thought…” Leo paused. “I thought sensei would take care of him.” He frowned, disappointed that his expectations had not been met.

“Well you thought wrong!”

“Back the hell up, Raph.” You scolded, defending your blue clad f r i e n d. “He did what he could.” Raph just glared at you.

“We know where they took him; Shredder’s lair. We do this for Splinter.” Mikey spoke as he stood up and raised a finger in the air. “There comes a time, brothers and sister, when history is forged like melted cheese.” He wiggled his fingers as he spoke. “It sticks together as one! But it's still soft and squishy in the middle.” He licked his lips at the thought of the cheese. “Are you with me?!”

“Hell yeah!” You cheered, fist bumping the young turtle.

“Lamest speech ever, but, I’m with ya.” Raph finally smiled.

“Let’s do this!” Leo said, putting his hand out where the rest of you put yours on top of his. Leo then turned to you. “You still good?”

“I mean I feel drunk ‘cause of the drug but I’m good to go!” You replied with a confident nod and smile, which he returned.

In a matter of minutes, you all had gathered up some gears and weapons to prepare for the fight. Raph had some hand claws (to climb up walls) or Tegaki, Leo had a rope with a grappling hook, Mikey had brought a whole box of firecrackers and you… well you just had your powers ready.

Later, you had all gone out to the lair. Right on the wall of the tall building, Leo climbed up the side of the Foot Headquarters with the usage of tegaki. He threw some shurikens towards a couple of footbots that had been put on guard, destroying them. He successfully gained entry into the building and jumped down several platforms until he had reached his sensei. However, the throne room was then lit up with dozens of orange lights at the sidelines, and this was when the Shredder appeared from behind his throne. Just when Leo was about to pull out his twin katanas, Tiger Claw (along with the two other mutants and Stockman) appeared and twisted his arm, disarming him and knocking him onto the floor. The Shredder then aggressively asked Leo where the other three Turtles were, but Tiger Claw, using his very keen sense of smell, said that he sensed no one else in the area. The Shredder then broke the bindings around Splinter's arms, removed his own cape, and instructed Leo to watch in horror as the retribution with Splinter was finally carried out to the end.

In spite of being poisoned, Splinter was actually able to avoid several of the Shredder's attacks, but hei was then kicked hard in the torso, sending him flying a good length of the way across the room. Shredder then picked him up and was about to put him out of his misery for CERTAIN when yet another earthquake occured, catching Shredder and his henchmen off-guard; to which the weakened Splinter took advantage of by striking the glass floor Shredder was standing on, causing him to fall through it and into the water below. Not only that, but you, Raph and Mikey then entered, armed with the handy firecrackers, which you actually used to distract the villains' attention and escape the building with Splinter. Having got out of the water, a furious Shredder demanded Karai and his henchmen to pursue their enemies.

Meanwhile on the rooftops, you and Mikey led the way whilst Leo and Raph helped Splinter up. The rat man scolded his sons for coming after him but Raph said that none of you would leave him behind. However, due to Splinter’s state, you made a stop and he sat against a water tower to meditate and get the poison out. The rest of you looked around for the villains and they made their appearance sooner than what you had thought.

“Ah fuck.” You cursed as the boys joined you.

“Attack!” Tiger Claw commanded and Fishface, Karai, Rahzar and himself sprang into action.

Karai immediately went for Leo, much to your annoyance whilst Fishface attacked Raph and Rahzar went after Mikey. You were facing the cat man himself, his tall and buff stature intimidating you. The mutant growled and swung his sword at you which you blocked by crystallizing your forearm by reflex. You smirked and formed an ice fist with your other hand and punched him in the chin, making him fall back. You mentally celebrated however it was cut short when Tiger Claw used his jetpack and charged after you with his guns. He shot both red hot lasers and ice rays towards you which you managed to dodge. You shot a few ice spikes at him but he simply shot them. Suddenly, he tackled you down and flew up high, holding your wrist with one hand. He stopped once he was high enough and glared at you as you clung onto his hand that was keeping you from falling. You hadn’t flown that high up so you were really scared.

“Your skills are nothing compared to mine, cub. You will die here.” He threatened.

“I-It’s a work in progress!” You stuttered. “H-Hey how ‘bout we go on a date and you can teach me some sweet moves, ey? Sounds g-good? Please don’t drop me.” You squeaked the last part.

“Fool! Enough games!” He growled, bringing your face closer to his which only made you feel smaller.

Closing your eyes tightly, you placed your ice cold hand on top of Tiger Claw’s one which made him flinch and let you go. You felt your heart drop as your body couldn’t resist the Earth’s gravitational pull that was bringing you to the ground. Your eyes were still shut and you internally screamed as you felt the wind hit your face.

Calm down calm down! You thought to yourself as you kept falling. Feel the wind against your face, Y/N, stretch your arms out like a plane.

With a deep breath, you opened your eyes and flipped your position so that your feet were facing the ground instead of your face. With one hand motion, you created a slide on the rooftop which gained the attention of the turtles and the villains. Landing on the ice slide, you slid and launched yourself back up in the sky, much to Tiger Claw’s surprise, and threw a powerful punch at his face. Due to the force, both of you started falling down and during the entire way, you both fought. You threw punches and kicks towards him along with ice spikes and ice blasts. You were able to do a bit of damage however you couldn’t dodge all of his lasers, especially the red one. Unfortunately, you got shot on your shoulder and your arm which sent a stinging sensation throughout your entire body. Looking down, you saw the ground getting closer and closer. You had to take action now. With one ice blast to the ground, you were able to slow down your landing and soon enough, you hit the ground of the rooftop where everyone else was. Tiger Claw landed on his feet and pointed his gun at you once again. He growled and the moment his finger was about to push the trigger, Splinter jumped in and grabbed the cat man’s thick arm, twisted it and threw him to the ground.

“Oh hey.” You greeted out of breath, prepping yourself on your elbows. “Nice to see you up and about.”

“You have fought well, Y/N. Rest now.” Splinter whispered, helping you to rest your back against a nearby wall. He turned to the enemies and walked forward, catching his sons’ attention. “Now it is time to end this.”

The boys ran to their father and hugged him quickly before getting into a fighting position. Although you were on the side, damn was it awesome to see them facing each other. It felt like you were watching a movie and right now you were at the climax. Despite the burning pain you felt in your shoulder and arm, you squealed at the scene in front of you. Soon enough, the fight began and everyone had the same opponent; Raph vs Fishface, Rahzar vs Mikey, Leo vs Karai and Tiger Claw vs Splinter since you were out of commission. Of course, of damn course, Leo persisted to convince Karai that she was on the wrong side. You groaned and rolled your eyes, deciding to look at another fight and immediately, you were hooked on Splinter’s fight with Tiger Claw.

Suddenly, the ground shook again, pausing the fight as the mutants were trying to regain their balance. To your surprise, Karai lost balance and fell off of the building. Splinter called out his daughter’s name and as he was about to run to the edge, Tiger Claw stepped on his tail, stopping him. The mutant tiger readied his sword but a rock was thrown at him, distracting him enough for Leo to kick him away. Tiger Claw fell off the edge of the roof and landed on a balcony, knocked out. The leader helped his sensei up

Out of nowhere, a giant worm-like creature emerged from the ground, just grazing the building you were on. It screeched loudly however the sound of Casey and April’s cheers overtopped it. Everyone’s eyes widened at the strange sight, particularly yours as your best friend/sister was riding the thing like a champion. Tiger Claw then flew up and attempted to attack Splinter once more however the skilled master tapped on multiple pressure points and kicked him away. Tiger Claw’s jetpack malfunctioned as it led him to the mouth of the giant worm. In a second, he had disappeared. You had to admit, you were a bit sad. You weren’t really joking when you said you liked him. He was a really cool villain and an amazing fighter. You were able to use Leo’s teachings on him and in the end you survived.

You snapped back to reality when you heard the worm squirm and move before being sucked back underground, along with Casey and April.

“Welp, there goes your date.” A smooth voice said, catching your attention. You looked up to see Leo with a cheeky smirk. You pouted in response which made him chuckle. He put his hand out for you to take and you did, pulling you up on your feet. A groan escaped your lips as your injuries were still burning. “Are you okay?” Leo asked and you nodded. “Listen… I, um, I’m sorry for not telling you about Karai.” He suddenly apologised, much to your shock. “You’re my friend, Y/N, I shouldn’t have kept something so important from you.”

“Hey, it’s okay. You had your reasons.” You reassured him with a gentle smile.

Much later, Donnie, April and Casey joined the rest of you on the same rooftop. The sun was coming up, slowly bringing light to the city. The purple masked genius immediately noticed your burns and ran up to you to inspect them. He told you it wasn’t too bad, just lots of lotion and pain reliever would do the trick. He then proceeded to explain what had caused the earthquakes, that it was those Kraang worms called the Kathatragons. Mikey was happy that the three had pulled it off and gave them a hug. Raph wondered where Karai was and April had a hard time believing the “evil witch” was Splinter’s daughter. Splinter explained that it was Karai’s choice to believe it or not and he expressed his hope that she would one day believe it.

Since it was still early in the morning and it was the weekend, you went home and slept, to which April agreed with and followed you. And so you flopped on your bed and drifted off to sleep...

_“Ma'am, I’m very sorry to report this but the test results came back positive. You have terminal cancer.” The doctor said._

_“What about our child?” A man’s voice asked._

_“It’s too early in your wife’s pregnancy to make a diagnosis. However based on the data we have, there is a 60% chance that your child might develop cancer in the future. Which is why we must keep a close watch on your development. Your full names?”_

_“M/N and F/N L/N.”_

_In the car, the woman cried whilst her husband rubbed her back sympathetically._

_“I’ll find a way to make sure our child is born safe and healthy. I promise you.” The husband whispered._

_“What can you possibly do, F/N?” His wife asked through her sobs._

_“What I thought I would never do.”_

_Later, in their humble home, the husband by the name of F/N L/N went down to his large lab where there were multiple chemicals, vials, tools and more importantly, a few tanks of mutagen. He just couldn’t figure out how to re-engineer the substance. So he had to go to the source. Picking up a gear that brought oxygen to his mask, he picked up a small machine and pressed it which opened a pink triangular gate. He walked inside and was greeted with multiple lasers pointed at him, held by robot droids with pink brain aliens in their stomachs._

_“Kraang subprime.” the man spoke._

_“F/N L/N. So what is one of Earth’s so called most brilliant minds on the planet doing here?”_

_“I’m here to make a proposition.”_

_“Not interested. You humans have nothing to offer that’s worth my time. Get the hell out of here.”_

_“What if I told you it was about the mutagen you’re trying to perfect?”_

_The alien turned its flying vehicle around so it could face the human man. It eyed him up and down, looking for any kind of weapon or trick but found him empty handed to its surprise._

_“I’m listening.”_


	17. Memories of the Past

“Y/N? Are you listening?”

Donnie’s voice snapped you back into reality. You were in his lab with your math textbook on his table and him sitting next to you, his reddish-brown eyes staring back down in yours. Oh right, you needed help with math. It had been a few days since that strange dream of yours - the one where you saw your mother and your father. It was all you could think about.

“Sorry, Don. I’ve been distracted lately.” You apologised, looking down.

“I noticed. What’s wrong?” Donnie asked, turning his chair so that he was facing you completely.

“It’s just that… I had this really weird dream a few nights ago. I saw… my parents.”

“Your parents?”

You nodded. “And I wasn’t even born. They kept on talking about their ‘child’ and ensuring it was okay and I think they meant me.” Donnie looks at you with a raised brow and a finger under his chin. He was intrigued by what you were saying.

“Sounds strange indeed. Tell me everything from the very beginning. Give me all the details.”

“Uh well okay. They were in a doctor’s office. The doctor broke the news to my mom that she had terminal cancer. My dad asked whether their child - me - would have it too and the doctor said that it was a 60% chance. Then the scene changed and they were in a car and mom was crying. She asked dad what they were going to do and dad said he was going to do something he never thought he would. And the next thing I saw was him going through a Kraang portal.” Donnie gasped at that. “And he met up with some Kraang subprime I think? He looked different from the other Kraangs - he had some purple mark on his eye and spoke perfect english. And that’s it.”

You watched Donnie take note of everything you had just said. “Y/N, this sounds serious. Do you remember seeing why your father met with that Kraang?”

“He made a proposition, regarding the perfection of the mutagen.”

Donnie paused and briefly licked his lips before speaking again.

“I gotta admit something to you, Y/N. Everytime the Kraang communication orb acts him and I decode everything, there’s always one name that constantly pops up: F/N L/N.”

“What?”

“I wanted to do more research on why his name was there but I couldn’t find anything. But now… based on what you told me, I think it seems clear now.” He paused again. “Your father is working with the Kraang.”

Your breath hitched and it felt like the world stopped for a moment. You couldn’t move, you were too shocked, your heart was pounding and you couldn’t think straight. Taking a deep breath in, you calmed your nerves; you didn’t really want to transform right now.

“B-But that can’t be. He died.”

“There’s no death certificate nor a found body, Y/N. I looked everywhere for any kind of signs of your father’s whereabouts but there’s simply nothing. He just vanished. And now it seems clear how; he must’ve gone to Dimension X.”

“I... “ You tried to say something but no words came out. “This is…”

Donnie put a hand on your shoulder. “I’m sure there’s a reason why he did this. He’s a good man, I’m sure of it.”

You smiled at him and nodded. “Let’s finish this stupid math assignment, yeah?”

“Sure.”

Later, you were done with the assignment which didn’t take too long since Donnie helped a lot and he’s pretty good at explaining things. You thanked him, giving him a gentle hug which he returned. After pulling away, he promised you that he would try and figure out what really happened to your father. You tried to tell him that he didn’t have to, considering he had his hands full with creating a retro mutagen for April’s father but he reassured you that it was his pleasure to help out his close friend. Man, Donnie was too sweet sometimes. You considered him as a brother - Mikey and Raph as well. Leo was a particular case but that’s a paragraph for another time.

You exited the lab and joined Raph on the sofa, flopping on the comfortable mattress whilst the turtle teenager, who was reading his comic book, looked at you with a questioning look.

“Woah, did Donnie bore you to death or something?” He remarked.

“Hardy har. I’ll have you know Don helped me a lot.” You replied.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Math.”

“Ew.”

“I know right?”

You both chuckled at your short and quick remarks. He somehow lifted some weight from your shoulders which made you feel less… shitty. Silence fell in the living room as you were both enjoying each other’s company. Mikey had gone up top to skateboard and patrol a bit and Leo was in the dojo. What you didn’t know however, was that Jeremy was there too. Leo personally asked him to come so he could train him to be in control when the SQUIP activates. The leader was already busy with training you every weekend (and whenever you came by) and his brothers so he had planned to meet up with the teenage boy just a few times. Jeremy wasn’t planning on becoming a full ninja, no, he just wanted to know basic self defence and control over the SQUIP.

“Thanks for your help Leo.” Jeremy thanked the leader as he exited the dojo.

“No problem. Y/N told us everything about the SQUIP and what happened last year. I’m glad it’s sorted out now.” Leo said with a kind smile as he walked beside Jeremy towards the turnstile.

“Same here.”

“Think you can find your way back?”

“Yeah, I got it. Thanks.”

Both exchanged a thumbs up before Jeremy went through the exit and disappeared in the sewers. Leo smiled, happy with his work, and went to sit down on the sofa only to see you passed out. He chuckled; you must have had a tiring week after the big fight with Tiger Claw. He was glad that his training was paying off; you handled yourself really well back there. Furthermore, you’ve practically mastered your powers, which only made you more valuable to the team. Powers or not however, you would have been valuable either way. Leo gazed upon your sleeping state; you looked peaceful. Subconsciously, he moved a few strands of hair away from your face. Raph, who was sitting on the opposite side of his older brother, smirked at him, knowing exactly what was happening. Although he didn’t like the idea of him having a crush on Karai since she was the enemy, but with you, he was completely for it. You were a keeper. You were family to him and would love nothing more than to keep having you around.

“You sure got over Karai pretty quickly.” Raph spoke with the same smirk, his intense green eyes looking straight at Leo’s ocean blue ones.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Leo denied, retracting his hand from your face.

“Ohohoh you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Shut up Raph!” Leo whisper-shouted. “She’s right here.”

“She’s in a deep sleep, man, relax.”

Leo sighed. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Raph was surprised at that but decided to drop the topic. “Suit yourself.” The red masked sibling knew it was difficult for Leo. He had had a crush on the enemy and it had been revealed to him that she was his sister. That was a lot to process for the poor leader. Leo needed time and Raph knew that. He was probably scared that maybe one day it’s revealed that you’re a relative too! Completely irrational thinking but hey, Raph himself was afraid that another bigass cockroach would chase him and eat him.

Meanwhile, Leo had turned on the TV but turned down the volume so as to not disturb you. He needed a distraction, anything to get his mind over the fact that the girl he had a crush on was Splinter’s daughter, his god damned sister. There had to be a way for him to get over her fast. His eyes flickered to your sleeping form for a second. The boy knew he had strong feelings for you, but he couldn’t figure out what they meant exactly. He also knew you loved his brothers as your own, the question was whether you also felt the same way with him. Oooohhh how he would hate hearing that one sentence from you: “You’re like a brother to me.” Leo shook his head and focused back on the TV.

Meanwhile, during your sleep, you were having a strange dream once again…

_“I-It worked! Eurika! Oh, my dear, you’re cured!” The familiar voice of a man cheered as he brought his wife in for a hug in the car._

_“I don’t understand. What did you do?” The woman asked._

_“It doesn’t matter now, M/N, what matters is that you’re cured and our child will be born healthy and beautiful.”_

_“Thank goodness!” The two shared a blissful hug, crying tears of joy._

_The scene changed and the scientist was in a room with tons of machines, guns and robot droids. The one named Kraang subprime was towering over the man with his robot body that resembled strangely to that of a young girl, a teenager._

_“Well? Spit it out already!” Kraang subprime urged._

_“It worked! My wife is cured! You have my deepest gratitude.” The man exclaimed in joy._

_“Good, now we can finally start working on the mutagen that we’ve been trying to perfect for thousands of freaking years!”_

_“Hold on Subprime, remember our deal.”_

_“Ugh, you humans and your stinkin’ **families**.”_

_“I’ll only start working with you once my child is born. That was the deal.”_

_“9 months. The timer starts now. I swear, if you don’t show up when the time comes, your so-called **family** is as good as dead!”_

_“...Understood.”_

_“Tick tock, F/N.”_

“I DID IT!” Donnie’s voice yelled from the lab, waking you up with a jolt.

You snapped your eyes open and stood up but your forehead collided with someone else’s. With a groan, you looked at whoever you collided with and saw it was the orange clad turtle, Mikey. Leo turned off the TV and Raph put down his comic book before rushing to the lab. You got up on your feet with a grunt and followed the two, Mikey being right behind you. You all went through the large doors and saw Donnie with a wide grin and April next to him with wide eyes and a small smile.

“Did what?” Leo asked.

“Invent pizza that doesn’t get soggy in milk?” Mikey asked excitingly before taking a bite of a slice of pizza that you didn’t notice he had.

Leo glanced at you and chuckled which made you turn to him with a questioning look. He took out a tissue and motioned for you to clean your face. Curious, you took out your phone and used the front camera as a mirror and to your horror, Mikey had drawn all over it with a black marker. One that made you blush was your lips that were outlined and on the side was written ‘Kiss me Leo ♥’ You quickly wiped it off as you went inside the lab.

“I finally made it. Retro mutagen you guys! The key to returning Mr. O’Neil human again!” Donnie revealed and just then, Splinter came into the room. “And you too, sensei.”

You all turned to Splinter who was visibly surprised by the news. He could be human again? That was something he never thought would happen. His ears perked up and stared at the vial before looking down and turning away.

“Save April’s father first, and then I will… consider it.” He softly spoke before leaving the room with his hands behind his back. Immediately, Mikey grabbed the vial in his hands.

“Oh! What if I turn myself human again? I wonder what I look like.” Mikey questioned and began imagining how he would look like as a human. You could clearly see into his imagination and his head was that of a human blond man with an orange mask. “What uuuuup?”

“We were never human to begin with, genius. We turn back into turtles.” Raph corrected and Mikey’s imaginary human head disappeared and was instead replaced with his normal head. Donnie snatched the vial back.

“I’ve only got enough for two doses. One for April’s dad and one for Master Splinter.” The genius turtle explained.

“Can you make more of this stuff?” Leo asked with his hands on his hips.

“Yeah but it takes 10 canisters of mutagen to refine just one tiny dose of retro mutagen and I don’t have any left.” He turned to April. “But at least we can find your dad and change him back.”

April grinned. “I-I’m just… speechless! Thank you! Thank you so much Donnie! You’re the best!” She brought Donnie’s head down and kissed his cheek. You noticed Donnie’s leg go up slightly and his eyes turned into hearts. Once she pulled away, Donnie mumbled incomprehensible words before his head slammed on the table. You giggled and walked up to him to engulf him in a tight hug.

“Thanks, Don.” You whispered, burying your head in his neck. Donnie, absolutely loving the attention, hugged back.

“No problem.” He whispered back. You pulled away and kissed his forehead which made him blush. Although he loved the attention, he wasn’t used to it, being shy and all.

“C’mon team. Let’s find Mr. O’Neil.” Leo said as he left the lab along with Raph and Mikey. Whilst Donnie got the vial ready in a bag, you approached him again.

“Don, I had another dream.”

“Is it the same one?”

“No, it’s different.”

“Alright. Tell me about it once Mr. O’Neil is back.”

“Okay.” You nodded and followed him out.

“Is Leo aware of this?” Donnie asked in a low tone as to avoid Leo’s attention.

“No. He’s busy leading the team and… y’know being a leader! It’s not an easy thing to do, I should know, I’m my school’s president of the student council. I don’t wanna burden him with some stupid dreams.”

“Don’t you want to find out what really happened to your parents?”

You paused at that. He had a point.

“April told me you’ve been searching but never found anything. Those dreams could be the key to finding answers.” Donnie explained sofly, knowing this was likely a touchy subject for you.

“I hope so.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all are free to support me on Kofi <3   
https://ko-fi.com/ally_the_turtle


	18. The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman

On the rooftops, there you saw him; your best friend’s father, Kirby O’Neil, attacking a billboard that had a photo of a woman showing her neck. You can guess why he attacked it considering he was a mutant bat now. The turtles, you and April witnessed this and conversed about not getting Kirby riled up during his capture like last time (which was before you met the turtles). Leo told you to stay back with April and you agreed. April heeded this too, and they all approached with relative caution; Donnie prepared a syringe to administer the antidote from behind. On the rooftop adjacent where you and April were standing on, you felt a presence behind you and you turned around to see nothing. You weren’t transformed right now as there wasn’t really a threat to up your adrenaline.

“I really hope this works.” April whispered, her hands covering each other.

From afar, you saw Donnie point the syringe towards Kirby’s resting head however he got startled by a moving shadow and dropped it. Thankfully it didn’t break. However Kirby woke up and flew away. Standing above them on the billboard was a fly mutant in a pink shirt and dark blue jeans. You couldn’t quite hear what it was saying but it went for the vial. Both Donnie and the mutant fought for the item but it fell off of the roof and landed on the ground, shattering into pieces. There went the retro mutagen. The fly mutant then flew to the opposite building and was going to grab April but you quickly transformed and shot an ice blast at it. It stumbled back and shot acid bark at you. Shrieking, you jumped back a few feet away however a few small drops of acid touched your arm which was painful as hell. You hissed and held your arm as the mutant grabbed April and flew to the opposite building where the turtles were. It threatened that if they didn’t bring the retro mutagen, it would mutate with her. More importantly, you learned its name; Baxter Stockman. He flew away and the boys jumped over to you. Leo rushed to you and looked at your arm which had red spots with blood trickling down.

“Hurts like a bitch!” You cursed through your gritted teeth. Donnie came over to your side and examined it.

“We need to rinse it right away and bandage it up.” He said.

Later, Donnie rinsed your arm and Leo volunteered to bandage it up whilst the genius brother went to get the other dose of retro mutagen. You saw Splinter also go inside the lab, most likely to comfort Donnie about the loss of the dose. Your thoughts were interrupted when you felt a sharp pain in your arm.

“Ow!” You yelped. “Not so tight!”

“It’s the only way to keep it protected, Y/N.” Leo replied, gently rubbing his thumb on the gauze wrapped around your arm. “Remind me why you can’t heal from this?”

“It’s a burn. It takes much more time to heal.”

“Alright. Who’s the soon to be slapshotted goon that kidnapped April?” A new voice threatened from the entrance. You looked to your side to see Casey with his bat in his hands and his face covered in his signature paint.

“Long story, Casey. We need your help bigtime. And yes, you'll get to hit someone with a hockey stick. Probably more than once.” Leo informed with a knowing smile.

Casey grinned and shouted “yes” whilst throwing his fist in the air. You giggled at the excited boy; he sure loved to kick some ass. A smoke bomb gained your attention and you turned your head to see Mikey in some kind of flying bug costume. What was funny was how he kept saying “buzz buzz” at the end of every sentence. This child seriously had your heart melting.

Once arrived at Baxter’s lab, there was a giant tank of mutagen with April tied above it. You and the boys - that is, Leo, Donnie and Casey - were in the shadows for a surprise attack however Casey clapped his hands as he killed a fly. Baxter heard you and you all came out of your hiding. He spat out acid at the rope that was keeping the red headed girl from being dropped in the mutagen. Casey was the first to go for an attack but Baxter was too fast and kicked him away. Leo also went for it but was kicked away as well. You didn’t really know what to do; help April or kick Baxter’s ass. Then, Casey jumped onto his back and he flew up, only to throw him at Donnie who had started climbing up the tank to save April.

“Y/N! Get to April!” Donnie called and you nodded.

You had already transformed and so you shot ice blasts towards the ground and propelled yourself up until you landed on the side of the tank. Meanwhile, Leo avoided the acid spits and attempted to reason with Baxter however just as he said that, Casey threw a fire distinguisher at him but missed and hit the tank instead. Talk about perfect comedic timing.

“Um, guys? Little help here?” April called.

Aiming your hands towards the acid on the rope, you froze it in place which stopped it from burning. However, due to April’s weight and the thinness of the ice, the rope broke and she fell. By that time, Donnie had already jumped to try and catch her however he missed and she fell into the ooze before you had the time to freeze it.

“April!!” You screamed in horror.

Just as Baxter was about to jump in as well, Casey threw his hockey stick at him which knocked him away. Donnie and Leo joined you on the side of the tank, observing with worry April’s transformation. However, much to everyone’s surprise, she came out, spurted out some mutagen and still was her human self. She was immune to mutagen.

“I'll devour you all! I'll drink you like blobs of delicious filth!” Baxter threatened.

“Oh fuck you!” You cursed and shot an ice blast at him.

In a flash, Baxter pushed you all off. After hitting the ground, the fly mutant attempted to grab the retro mutagen but you, April, Casey and Leo restrained him. Surprisingly, Baxter was pretty strong as you were all struggling to keep him away from Donnie and the retro mutagen.

Suddenly, the wall was blown open and Rahzar came into view, also wanting the mutagen to become human again. He ordered the footbots to attack and Leo threw a smoke bomb before slashing the blinded robot ninjas. Rahzar surprised him and slashed his shell, pushing him away in the process. Baxter attacked Donnie and grabbed the vial and despite April’s kicks and punches, the mutant was about to insert the needle on his skin when Casey smacked a footbot head towards the vial, hitting it off of Baxter’s claws. Leo grabbed it and made his escape with you and the others following closely behind him. You all entered the Shellraiser and drove off into the streets. Whilst driving, April guided the leader on the directions he needed to take to get to her father. She couldn’t explain exactly how she knew, she said she had “feelings” about things.

Finally, you arrived and quickly began your climb to the roof of the building. April was quicker than you which you were surprised but understood; she was desperate to save her father. Once on top, April calmed her agitated mutant father and just as Donnie took out the vial of his bag, Baxter flew in and snatched it from his hands.

“Seriously? Again?!” Donnie complained.

“You have got to be shitting me right now.” You grumbled, rubbing the bridge of your nose.

Springing into action, you jumped off the roof and continuously created an ice bridge for you to surf on as you chased the mutant. All whilst chasing him, you shot ice spikes at him but he kept dodging them. Just as he was about to take a corner to hide, you managed to catch up to him and you launched yourself at his disgusting face, grabbing the vial, blasting him with ice and surfed away on your ice bridge once more. You cheered at your victory however that soon ended when several flying footbots tackled you off of your platform. Inevitably, you let go of the vial and just as you were about to create another bridge, someone caught your arm. You looked up to see Leo on the back of a footbot that he had under his control with some simple manipulation of the wires. His eyes darted between you and the footbot below that had the vial. You both nodded at each other, understanding what to do. With Leo still holding tightly on your arm, he guided the bot he was towards the one that had the vial. You created a sharp sword and sliced its arm off.

“Ya like that?!” You mocked with a grin before looking up at the blue masked turtle. “We make a pretty good team!”

“Heh, I second that. Remind me to pick you to be my partner from now on.” Leo replied with a smirk.

As the vial fell, Donnie swung towards it, using his grappling hook and basically being Spiderman, and grabbed it. However, a footbot cut the rope and he fell, letting go of the vial in the process. Not far from him, you saw April and Casey riding Kirby and chasing Baxter. You never thought you were going to see something like that. The bot had the vial and flew away whilst Donnie safely landed in an open dumpster. Baxter then snatched the vial away from the bot and flew high with you all, minus Donnie, followed right behind him. After throwing an object towards Kirby, the mutant fly collided with a billboard, the vial falling from his claws and landing on the edge of a rooftop.

Everyone’s eyes snapped at it, locking it in view before making their way down. The vial fell and spun around as everyone attempted to catch it, only to crash into each other, before hitting the top of a lampost. It shattered, the liquid flying all over the place. April, visibly mad, pulled the wings back on her father and she made him go underneath the spill, where a drop of the ooze skimmed his face. The turtles then threw a cloth over Kirby and he landed on the ground, reverting back to his normal self. You all ran over to him as he changed back. Kirby’s head popped out of a hole of the cloth, looking around confusingly. You and April hugged him tight.

“A-April? Y/N? What happened? Where am I? And why am I nude?” He asked and you pulled away.

“Dude when you hear what happened, you’re gonna laugh so hard!” Mikey grinned.

“You did it, Donnie! You're the best of the best of the best! Muah!” April squealed and kissed his cheek. You also hugged him and kissed his forehead. The turtle smirked at Casey.

“Four kisses in one night, eat it Casey Jones! Eat! It! Haha! Bow chicka bow bow!” Donnie celebrated, dancing on the spot and just as he was on his tip toes, Casey used his hockey stick to trip him. The boy chuckled at his work.

“No sign of Stockmanfly. Add him to the list of stray, mutated bad guy freaks running around New York.” Leo said after observing the sky through his small telescope.

“Stockmanfly is Turflytle's ultimate superhero enemy, buzz buzz.” Mikey started, getting into his character. “But if he's out there, buzz buzz, I'll find him, buzz bu-”

“Enough with the buzz buzz!” Raph cut him off angrily.

“Heheh, I like his character.” You whispered to Leo who chuckled.

“Okay!” Mikey gave in however he then had an idea and grinned at Raph, who instantly got it.

“Don't. Don't.” He warned.

“Buzz buzz, dog!” Mikey joked as he put the antennas on top of Raph’s head which prompted the hot head to chase his little brother.

Back at the lair, Donnie went to the dojo and his brothers followed him, along with you. April had gone home with Kirby and so did Casey. It had been a long night for them and April just wanted to spend time with her father that she had not seen for months. You had told you you were going to join her after hanging out with the turtle some more. Truth was, you didn’t really want to bother her reunion with him. That and it made you think about your own father and what he was doing. You didn’t really want to think about that, especially after this night’s fiasco. The turtles grouped around their sensei while you stood in the back.

“I'm sorry, Master Splinter.” Donnie apologised. “I wanted to change you back. But I swear, if it's the last thing I do, I'll-”

“Do not fret, my son.” Splinter apologised. “I am content with what I have become. I have no place in the human world anymore. This is my home, and you four are my family.”

Feeling kind of awkward, you turned your heel to leave the dojo to sit on the couch. It was cute to see them together and yet you also felt jealous. You loved Kirby as your own father, he had been taking care of you since you were 6 but even with that, there was a hole in your heart that you couldn’t fill up. You had yet to know what really happened to your family and until then, that hole would always be there.

“Everything okay?” A voice asked, snapping you out of your thoughts. You looked to your side to see Leo’s blue eyes staring into yours. “You look upset.”

“Heh, you’re good huh?” You chuckled bitterly. “It’s just that… seeing you guys and April with your fathers makes me miss mine. Don’t get me wrong, I love Kirby and consider him to be my dad but… I just feel like something’s missing. I mean, he doesn’t even know about-” You created mist in your hands which trickled to the ground. “-this.” Just as Leo was about to reply, Donnie walked over to you two and spoke.

“I need you both in my lab.”

You and Leo looked at each other in confusion but nonetheless followed the genius to his big lab. Once inside, Donnie closed the door and looked at you.

“Leo needs to know, Y/N.” He said seriously and you knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Know what?” Leo questioned and you looked down in shame. “Y/N...?”

“She’s been having dreams Leo, about her parents.“ Donnie revealed. “She keeps seeing her father speaking with the Kraang and working with them.”

“What?” Leo gasped, his eyes immediately darting over to you.

Donnie nodded. “She keeps dreaming it over and over until she recently had a new one.”

“Y/N…” Leo softly whispered, trying to get your attention. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

You finally looked up at him, tears rolling down your cheeks. “I dunno, maybe ‘cause I needed to process the fact that my dad’s probably a fucking criminal?!” You snapped at him, surprising the two brothers. “I can’t sleep at night ‘cause of these stupid dreams. I keep seeing them, my parents, and there’s so much going on. 9 years of my life, I was fine and I gave up finding out what really happened and now only I get these dreams?! I… I don’t even know how or what to feel anymore…! I’m just so… lost a-and scared…” You croaked, feeling your defensive walls crumble down in front of the two. “I don’t know anything anymore…”

Immediately, Leo engulfed you in a warm hug. You wrapped your arms around his neck and continued to cry, Donnie right beside you with his hand on your shoulder. He knew this was hard for you and it was good that you decided to let all your bottled up emotions out. Leo, at that moment, only wanted to comfort you as you broke down. He stroked your hair and rubbed your back to help calm you down and soon enough, after a minute or two, you stopped crying. The leader pulled away, looking into your bloodshot eyes and wiping your remaining tears away with his thumb. You had your hand over your nose and mouth to cover the snot that had poured out. Donnie jogged to get a box of tissues and brought them over to you where you took out and cleared out your nose as well as cleaned up your face.

“Feeling better?” Leo asked, his voice soft and you nodded in response. “Are you ready to tell me about those dreams?” You nodded again.

And so you did, you told him everything in detail, even the new one and as you did that, Donnie took down some more notes. Once you were done, Leo smiled at you and told you he was proud of you for being strong and telling him. You blushed and thanked him for listening before hugging him again. He returned it, burying his face in your hair and taking in your scent. You two pulled away when Donnie gasped.

“Y/N, your dad isn’t a criminal. Truthfully, he didn’t want to work with the Kraang but he did it… to save you and your mother.” He explained.

“To save me?” You repeated and he nodded.

“After hearing about your mother’s cancer, he tried to find a cure using mutagen since nothing else apparently worked but he didn’t seem to know how to work with it and so he turned to the Kraang and made a deal: help him cure his pregnant wife in exchange for his cooperation. And just like that, you both were cured.”

“That doesn’t make sense. My mom died from cancer 6 years after I was born. The cure couldn’t have worked.” You retorted.

“But I assure you it did. My theory is that after your mother took the cure, your mother’s entire biochemistry was altered, creating new mutant cells that killed the cancerous ones. Therefore the new mutant DNA merged with her human DNA. After you were born, the mutant gene was passed on to you entirely, along with the human one and that changed your mother’s DNA structure, resulting in the slow decrease of her mutant cells that was quite literally freezing the cancerous ones and so she was sick again. Again, this is just my theory but I’m 99% sure that’s what happened. Your father truly is a genius! Mixing cryogenic therapy and mutagen to create a cure is revolutionary!”

“W-Wait a minute here… Are you saying Y/N’s part mutant?” Leo asked.

“Technically, yes. I’d say by about 54.9% considering the fact that both DNAs make up a single one and the cancerous cells that were once there during the first stage of her mother's pregnancy are no more. That and of course, y’know, her powers that gives her speed healing and ice projection being more expressed than her human genes.”

Right there, you collapsed into Leo’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all idk science or bio so bare with me with the scientific explanation i made Donnie give. 
> 
> I forced myself not to use "quantum" to explain shit unlike scifi movies LMAO
> 
> Also Reader is still human nonetheless, it's just her powers that makes her part mutant. Just wanted to clarify that. 


	19. Only a Matter of Time

Nothing had ever been the same since that night.

Going to school felt like landing on an alien planet where everyone was normal and then there was you, an outcast. Thankfully April, Casey and Jeremy felt the same, April especially since it had been revealed to her that she was half alien too. And for Casey, well with his vigilante life, he didn’t feel normal either. It was the three of you against everyone, really. As for Jeremy, it was similar to Casey, he was living this otherlife with the turtles and the Kraang. It was the four of you versus everyone else, really. Each one of you had something that distincted you from the others. You had cryogenic powers, April was telepathic, Casey was a vigilante and Jeremy’s SQUIP made him strong. What was difficult was keeping it all from your closest of friends. Jeremy struggled to keep it from Michael and Christine, his best friend and girlfriend respectively. You four had each other at least.

Over the past few weeks, despite the feeling of being an outcast, life went on. You completed your duties as the student council president which meant conducting speeches in the auditorium, sending out mass emails to your peers and keeping contact with the teachers. Luckily you were used to it all by now and the school was generally pretty chill, so there were hardly any big issues that would put pressure on you. Jake Dillinger returned to his normal cocky self and truthfully, you were happy. He even was dating Chloe. Speaking of Chloe, you didn’t really like her and she didn’t like you; you didn’t like each other. Why? You didn’t really know, she had been avoidant of you since the first day you were elected student president. You guessed she was still salty over the fact you won and she lost; she also wanted that position and you beat her. Oh well, you couldn’t do anything about that.

Another tiring school day passed, you decided to go to the lair, it had been a while since you had last seen the turtles - about 5 days - and you missed them. Spending time with them was all you wanted right then. And so, after deposing your bag in your room, you changed into more comfortable clothes, grabbed your phone and earphones and went out again. There was a lot going in your mind - it was a lot to process for you. There were many questions that you wanted answers to. How were you going to find answers? All your parent’s stuff was sent away to god knows where. 

_Wait a minute._ You thought.

What if the answers were in your parent’s stuff? Your father was a scientist, surely he had kept a journal to record all his findings. You had to find it. You would need the turtle’s help however, who knew where your parent’s stuff would be, they could be in Dimension X for all you knew. You needed back up. 

_Okay okay - first, talk to Leo about this. Then, ask Kirby where he sent the stuff, he was the one to take me in after all. After that, track them down to the location and finally, break in and take it all. Easy peasy right?_ You formulated some kind of plan in your mind.

Sooner that you had thought, you arrived at the lair and called out for the boys. Surprisingly, you weren’t met with a bear hug from Mikey. Instead, you just heard Leo, Donnie and Mikey call you back and you turned your head to see them playing with the Space Heroes pinball machine. A chuckle left your lips as you watched the boys have fun. Mikey was close to beating the high score and the two older brothers were cheering for him.

“Great use of your time. While somebody else is out there busting the Kraang's brains in.” Another voice interrupted, which made Mikey lose the ball. You all turned around to see Raph and Casey entering through the turnstile.

“And that somebody wasn't us. We got other vigilantes out there going after those alien blobs.” Casey added.

“Sounds good to me. Less work for us!” Mikey said with a smile.

“It's not good. The Kraang stole Plutonium. And whoever took 'em down stole it from them!” Raph argued.

“Interesting. Maybe Shredder's going after the Kraang again?” Donnie questioned.

“I don't think these were Shredder's guys.”

“Ha! I know exactly who's behind this.” Mikey chimed.

“You better not say squirrels with lasers again!” Raph angrily denied, thrusting his finger on Mikey’s plastron.

“So what do we do, Leo? Hunt down whoever's hunting the Kraang?” Donnie asked, his eyes switching to meet Leo’s.

“I think we better blanket the area, keep an eye out. Raph and Casey, stick to the alleyways. Donnie and Mikey, you take the rooftops. Y/N and I'll cover the sewers. We'll meet back at the lair at midnight.” Leo instructed before everyone made their move to leave the lair.

“So, it’s just you and me now.” You finally spoke up, standing beside the handsome leader.

“Told ya I’d pair us together.” Leo replied with a smirk which made your heart flutter. He was so hot when he smirked. “C’mon, let’s cover some ground.”

With that, you both went to the dark sewers of New York, a flashlight in both of your hands, eyes watching every corner of the tunnels. There were so many paths, anyone could get lost easily. Leo came to a stop upon seeing the scene in front of him. You followed his gaze and gasped at what you were both looking at; on the floor was a pool of destroyed Kraang droids. Thousands of different parts of the droids lay around, separated from their respective bodies.

“Jesus, this came straight out of a horror movie.” You said.

Leo put a hand on your shoulder so you could look at him. You turned to him and he motioned for you to follow him through the narrow tunnel, where more bodies lay. Nodding your head, you went on all fours and crawled through the tunnel with the leader right in front of you. Once on the other side, you shrieked as your feet landed on severed Kraang droid heads.

“Whoever did this not only destroyed them, they obliterated them.” Leo commented, his smooth voice resonating in the dark tunnels.

“Thank God they did this to Kraang droids and not humans. I would NOT like to see severed human heads instead of robot ones.” You commented, cringing at the thought.

“Ew. That would not be a good sight.” Leo cringed as well. You both continued to look around in silence until Leo cleared his throat to get your attention. “Uh… So how’ve you been?”

“Fine, I guess. It’s been kinda hard to go back to school knowing I’m part mutant.”

“Hey, that doesn’t make you any less human than you were before.” He comforted, placing his hand on your shoulder and pulling you to look at him. “You’re still you. The you that we love as part of our family. Human, mutant, vampire, that doesn’t matter to us.”

His words touched your heart and so you pulled him in for a warm hug, your arms around his neck to bring him closer to you. It took him a second to register that you were hugging him before he buried his face in your neck and wrapped his arms around your waist. He took a breath in, inhaling your scent in the process, before breathing out. Leo always felt at ease whenever you were around. Something about you just made him feel peaceful. It was one of the things he liked about you.

“I could say the same about you.” You whispered, still hugging him.

“Hmm?”

“Yeah. Ironically, you’re one of the most human guy I’ve ever met.” You pulled away but kept him close, placing a hand on his blushing cheek. “Outside, I see a ninja turtle mutant who kicks ass for a living but inside-” Your hand moved from his cheek to his plastron, where his beating heart was. “-I see a kind-hearted, dorky guy who protects those he loves.”

Leo’s cheeks turned red at your compliments. He didn’t really know how to respond to that; no one had said those things to him before. He nervously chuckled and scratched the back of his neck, stuttering a “thank you” before his eyes suddenly caught sight of something on the ground, among all the heads. He bent down and picked up a spiky object. He looked at it from different angles before his head moved back.

“Oh no.” He muttered, recognising the object.

“What is it?” You asked.

“It’s a piece of Slash’s shell.”

“Who?”

“Slash. He used to be Raph’s pet turtle before he got into some mutagen and mutated into a much larger turtle mutant. Who used to be Spike is now Slash.”

“Ouch. Must’ve been hard for Raph.”

“It doesn’t even end there. Slash started attacking me, Donnie and Mikey. His goal was to kill us so he could fight crime alongside Raph. Two lone wolves working together, kind of thing. Frankly, he nearly killed us but thankfully, Raph helped and Slash fell off a building. We never knew where he was since then.”

“Oh my God. So I take it he isn’t a good guy?”

“Hard to say, really. He’s fighting the Kraang so at least we know he’s on our side of the battle. Whether he still wants to kill us, well, I guess we’ll find out.”

“Fantastic.” You deadpanned.

Later, everyone grouped back in the lair and Raph and Casey looked messy. They had been in a fight. Everyone went to the kitchen where Donnie was doing what he did best on his computer. Casey complained about his head hurting and called Raph to ice him. The red-headed turtle passed over an ice pack and warned him about Slash and a new mutant you hadn’t heard about, Newtralizer. The boy, of course, dismissed his friend’s warnings, saying he could take them on easily. You had to admit, it was cute to see Raph care for Casey, even if it was in a rather harsh way. Leo told them to focus as Donnie explained how they were going to track down the two mutants. Once a plan was formed, you decided to speak out.

“Sorry boys, as much as I’d love to kick ass with you, I have a deadline that I don’t wanna miss.”

“Awww!” Mikey whined, running to you and hugging you tight. “Ninja-ing with you is fun!”

You patted his head. “I know, but I have work to do. Maybe next time.” You kissed the top of his head and bid everyone goodbye before leaving the kitchen and soon enough, exiting the lair.

After arriving home, you made sure to quietly go to your room so as to not wake up the O’Neils. You went to the bathroom to do your business and once you were done, you washed your hands in the sink. When you lifted your head, you looked at your reflection and something caught your eye. There was a streak of white hair among your H/C ones.

_That’s weird, I’m not stressed though._ You thought to yourself.

You shrugged and dipped your head down so that you could splash some fresh water on your face and when you looked at the mirror again, you gasped and stumbled back upon seeing your appearance had totally changed. However, when you took your hair in your hands and looked at it yourself, it was still H/C. Eyes looking back and forth between the mirror and the hair in between your fingers, your heart rate began to quicken. You were so confused by what you were seeing and you had a bad feeling about it.

“You can’t resist me forever, Y/N.” Your reflection spoke with an evil grin.

“What the hell is going on?!” You whisper-shouted.

“Isn’t that obvious? You’re transforming. Soon enough, you and I will be one and I’ll be in control.” She replied, her voice echoing in your head.

“No. No way. This isn’t happening. You’ll never control me. I’m doing fine on my own, thank you very much!”

“Oh but you’re so much more powerful than that, Y/N. What you can do right now is only a small portion of your full power. You can easily kill with one motion.”

“I’m not using these powers to kill!”

“Save the hero speech. Without me, you’re as good as dead. You need me.”

“No I don’t!”

“Give it up! Sooner or later, you’ll give into me and the enemies will fear me.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

“It’s only a matter of time. Time’s ticking. Tick. Tock.”

“Shut up.”

“Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.”

“Enough!”

“Tick-”

Suddenly, you punched the mirror, shattering it and the pieces fell on the floor. You hissed at the stinging on your first. Your knuckles were bleeding and a few drops fell off. However, your immune system kicked in and the cuts closed themselves. A sigh escaped your lips, you would have to break the news of the shattered mirror to Kirby and you weren’t looking forward to that. After that ordeal, you changed into your pyjamas and didn’t bother to finish your work; you were too tired and emotionally challenged to think straight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay safe out there guys. I'm very much aware of what's happening in America right now with the BLM situation. It's saddening to see this happen.
> 
> I never understood the logic behind racism. People are people regardless of their skin colour.
> 
> What's worse is that racism is everywhere, even in a culturally diverse city such as Singapore. The Malays, Indians and Filipinos are treated like dirt because their culture is different and their jobs don't pay them much. There's also Chinese privilege.
> 
> It's 2020 ffs. With globalisation and internet, everyone is connected. Humans are so much more connected than they were before and so they are more exposed to other races and cultures.
> 
> Anyway, fellow POC readers that are reading this right now, please, keep fighting and don't give up, but also make sure to take care of yourselves. Take some time away from the internet if you need to. 
> 
> If you're like me, who's far away from it all, here's what you can do:
> 
> Sign the petition for the justice of George Floyd. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/justice-george-floyd-0 
> 
> Donate to the BLM fund. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019 
> 
> There are also many other petitions and donation funds out there that are all over Twitter and Instagram. 
> 
> Stay safe, stay strong and keep fighting.


	20. Wrath of Tiger Claw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a lil reminder that my writing and art commissions are open! If you want me to write or draw your characters, PM me and I'll let you in the prices! With just $10, you can get a 1,000 word fanficiton or a full colored half body drawn by me! :)
> 
> I mean you can get art from me for as cheap as $3 ;)

“Why do you think the Shredder sent you with me?”

“Because I know them. I know the places they go. I know their weakness. Their friends April ‘O'Neil, Casey Jones and Leo’s favourite, Y/N L/N.”

On the rooftop of a building in the dark city of New York, Karai and Tiger Claw were hunting down the turtles. The cat man had survived getting eaten by the Kraang worm and had come back to get his revenge. He had had enough of the turtles and their human allies and wanted to put an end to them, especially after what he had gone through because of them. The Shredder made Karai go with Tiger Claw because she knew them personally. And so they went to Mr. Murakami’s restaurant and threatened him to tell where the human allies were. Murakami, feeling frightened by Tiger Claw, told them everything and soon enough, the two went off to find them.

Meanwhile, as the turtles were about to enter the sewers after spending some time at Murakami’s restaurant, Mikey remembered that he had left his leftover pizza gyoza and urged his brothers to go back with him. And so they did and they were surprised to see the property was damaged. There was a noticeable claw mark on the wall. Murakami told them that he was attacked and he had shamefully disclosed information about their human friends. Leo instructed Mikey and Raph to go to the ice rink whilst he and Donnie to the O’Neils. The first thing Donnie did was call April and he was surprised that she didn’t answer, commenting that she always answered her phone.

During that time, you, April, Casey and Irma just came out of the cinema doors, April beaming with joy as she had loved the movie. She kept going on and on about certain scenes that she particularly loved and as she talked, her body and hand gestures conveyed her thoughts as they were moving in different motions. Casey complained that his date with April had to have a third and fourth wheel attached to it to which you answered by hitting him on his shoulder, reminding that you were watching you for your girl. April then suddenly grabbed her head and groaned, meaning she had sensed something. Casey asked what was wrong and she replied saying that they were being followed. In a few exchanged words, you all scattered - Casey went one direction, you and April went to another and Irma just stayed in place because she was confused by what was going on.

You and April ran through the dark streets until a familiar figure jumped down and landed in front of you both. Instinctively, you extended your arm in front of April, shielding her from Karai’s potential attacks.

“O’Neil. L/N.” Karai spoke.

“Back off, bitch. Leo’s been training me and you don’t wanna know what I can do!” You threatened. April popped her head to the side so Karai could see her too and she had her tessen out too.

“You want to do this, Karai? Fine. But I'm warning you, I've been training with Master Splinter big time, and I'm ready to kick your butt.” She warned confidently.

Karai immediately changed her position from a fighting one to a defensive one. “I didn't come to fight. I came to talk.”

“Oh, well we’ve been trained in that too.” April added.

“Let’s take this to the rooftop, it’s too public here.” Karai said before climbing up to the roof. You and April followed her to the roof where she leaned against a vent and you and April stood a few feet away from her, listening to what she had to say. “All my life, I was raised to believe that the Shredder was my father. That Splinter was the enemy. So when Leo told me that Splinter was my true father, I couldn't accept it.” She paused. “But then I began to have doubts about Shredder's honor.”

“Doubts about the evil leader of the evil ninja clan? Really?” April asked sarcastically.

“No shit Sherlock.” You spat.

“Yes, even now, the Shredder has sent Tigerclaw to destroy the Turtles. He's trying to use me to set a trap for them. But I can't. Even if it means betraying Shredder.” Karai looked at you and April with honest eyes. Your friend looked at you, wondering what you thought and you replied by furrowing your eyebrows and shaking your head. You didn’t trust her at all. The kunoichi looked at you and eyed your face.

“What are you looking at?” You asked rudely.

“Did you get white streaks in your hair?”

Your eyes widened and you turned around, facing away from her and took out your phone to use it as a mirror. The streaks of white had come back. April looked at you curiously and you simply did an okay sign at her with a fake smile.

“Y’know. Stress.” You lied.

“Get away from them!” A new voice suddenly shouted and you looked behind to see Donnie and Leo on the edge of the roof. Donnie was about to attack Karai but April stopped him and told him to listen to Karai.

“I believe you Leonardo! I believe that Splinter is my true father.” Karai said, looking straight at Leo with a sad expression.

“I believe that she believes you.” April added, also looking at Leo.

“I believe… April.” Donnie spoke.

“I believe this is bullshit.” You grumbled with your arms crossed.

Leo paused, looking at Karai and the ground before a smile formed on his face. “This… This is great!” He walked over to the female ninja and took her hands in his, leading her to the direction of the lair. This made your blood boil. Of course he was happy, the girl he liked finally accepted her true origins. You didn’t believe her for a second. She lied to you before and there was a high chance she was lying now. But what could you do? They all believed her.

“Phew. Raph’s not gonna believe this.”

Later, when you all arrived at the lair.

“I don’t believe this!” Raph snapped. “What have you guys done? What world do you live in that it's okay to bring the princess of the foot clan to our secret lair?”

“Casey!” April gasped as she ran over to the couch where a beaten up Casey was laying.

“What happened to Casey?” Asked Leo as he noticed his friend.

“Tiger Claw threw him off a building. And you just brought his partner in crime home for dinner.” Raph explained.

“Oh shit Tiger Claw is back?” You gasped and Raph nodded.

“Shredder lied to me! I didn't know.” Karai defended.

“Did you know that I'm about to stick this sai right up your-”

“Raph, no! She understands now. She gets it.” Leo spoke, getting in between his brother and Karai.

“She knows the truth, Raph. Everything's gonna be fine.” Donnie reasoned.

“Will you just listen?” Leo attempted to get his brother to listen but the hot head cut him off.

“I've heard enough from you and your side bitch. She's probably leading the Shredder here right now!”

“Enough!” A new voice interrupted, gaining everyone’s attention. Looking back, Splinter came into the living room and he gasped upon seeing his daughter. “Miwa.”

“Splinter.” Karai spoke, bowing her head.

“Come with me.” Splinter instructed as he walked towards the dojo with Karai following closely behind him.

Raph huffed out and glanced your way, only to notice your paler skin and the white streaks in your hair. Clearly there was something wrong on your end and, being a good friend he was, he wanted to find out.

“Hey Y/N.” The red masked turtle called softly so that the leader wouldn’t hear him. You looked at him and he motioned for you to follow him out the lair. Shrugging, you both exited the lair through the turnstile and the shorter turtle took a sharp turn around the corner. You followed him until he came to a stop, turned around to face you and crossed his arms. “Alright, what’s up with you?”

“What’re you talking about?” You asked, starting to feel anxious.

“Dude, you’re paler than usual and you got white streaks in your hair. Also-” He moved towards you and grabbed your arm. “-you’re literally freezing. Something ain’t right with you and I wanna know.”

“Stress is all.”

“Cut the bullshit, Y/N.” He snapped before sighing. “Listen, I… I’m not good with words, alright? The whole ‘comfort talk’ isn’t my thing. So just… do us both a favour and just spit it out.”

“...Fine. You’re right. Something’s wrong with me.” You admitted and Raph nodded for you to keep going. “It was a few nights ago. My alter ego spoke to me and told me that she was going to take over my body, that it was only a matter of time before I give in.”

“That’s not gonna happen. You’ve been doing really great with controlling your powers. You’re gonna be fine, right?”

You pressed your lips into a thin line and your eyes dropped to the ground.

“Y/N?”

“Remember the Kraang portal dimension we were in? When there were thousands of doors?” Raph nodded. “I saw something in one of them. It was me in the future… except it wasn’t really me, it was Winter. She…” You took a deep breath. “She killed all of you.” The red masked turtle’s eyes widened at that and he was speechless. “Yeah…”

“You don’t… actually think that’ll happen, right?”

You didn’t say anything and instead, feeling overwhelmed, you covered your face with your hands to hide your tears. Raph, not knowing what to do, went to your side and rubbed your back in circles.

“I’m scared Raph…! What if it actually happens? W-What if-”

“No way!” Raph cut you off before you could start doubting yourself. “You’re a tough badass who can get through anything. I know you can fight this!”

With a scoff, you wiped your tears away with the back of your hand, feeling better after hearing your friend’s encouragement.

“You really think so?”

Raph nodded. “I know so. You’re family now and that alone makes you tough. Not a lot of humans can deal with aliens and mutants, y’know.”

“Heh… thanks, bro.” You smiled softly at him. “You’re pretty good at this.”

“Eh, I do what I can.”

“And that’s enough.”

You both exchanged a smile before you decided to hug him tightly. Raph was taken aback by the physical contact you were engaging him in since he wasn’t really the most outwardly affectionate turtle. Nonetheless, he wrapped his arms around you and hugged you back. He didn’t like hugs but he could afford making a few exceptions. You hugged him for a few minutes before pulling away and yawning.

“Get some rest, tough girl, you need it.” He spoke and you nodded before starting to make your way back home. However you turned around and before you could say anything, Raph knew exactly what you were going to ask. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell the others you were tired and you went home.” You smiled at him again before leaving.

Raph rejoined his brothers in the dojo and he was not surprised at the reveal that Tiger Claw was coming. He was right again about not trusting Karai. Immediately, they sprang into action; the turtle brothers and Karai left the lair to guide Tiger Claw away. They came to a stop at the large intersection and Mikey suggested they go to a frozen meat shop. There, they fought long and hard, making sure to avoid all the saws and sharp knives that could do terrible damage. Karai then took on Tiger Claw only to be knocked out and used as a hostage to keep the turtles at bay. Tiger Claw escaped with Karai and Leo wanted to go after them but Mikey was too injured to continue so they let them go. Raph still distrusted Karai, despite the fact that she genuinely knew the truth and helped them fight the cat man. Leo was heartbroken; he let Tiger Claw take Karai away from him and more importantly, from her father.

Meanwhile, you had returned home, slumping on your bed with your face buried on your pillow. A groan escaped your lips and resonated in the pillow as you let out your frustration. Why were you frustrated?

One, your alter ego was trying to take over you.

Two, Karai was on the good side now, meaning Leo would have more time to spend with her and ask her to be his girlfriend.

Three, you felt like a rebound.

The feels were hitting you hARD and there was nothing you could do. With a heavy sigh, you got up and went onto your computer, accessing 123movies and searching the title ‘The Avengers’. It was currently 2014 so you knew 123movies would have a better quality of the movie that had come out 2 years ago. You had already watched it but come on.

You can never watch Avengers ‘too much’.

It was just so good and always made you smile. And so you put on your headphones, placed your laptop on your lap as you lay down on your bed and pressed play. The title screen appeared and you could already feel your frustration fade away. (Favourite avenger) was your favourite character and you couldn’t wait to see them all gather together and battle the chuitari.

Halfway through the movie, you felt your phone vibrate against the bed sheets and your eyes drifted to the device. Picking it up and looking at the ID, you were surprised to see Leo was calling you.

[X] Answer

[O] Decline

Excuse you this isn’t a choice book with different endings.

A groan left your mouth as you simply put the phone down and focused on the movie, not wanting to feel frustrated again.

After everything you and Leo went through together - the Holbein conspiracy, kicking Kraang and the Foot Clan’s asses, sharing your fear about your powers - were you really just a rebound to him? Just so he could get over Karai? And now that she was back, would you become invisible to him? You got that she was Splinter’s daughter and Leo wanted to get her back for him but you knew he had a crush on her before, who was to say he still did. Karai was the enemy so he couldn’t ask her out or flirt with her so he might as well flirt with another girl and get close to her so he could feel better, right? Now that Karai no longer was the enemy, he could just go back to being close with her and leave behind the naive girl he rebounded to, right? R i g h t ?

_No. _You thought. _Leo’s reasonable._ _He’d never do that. I’m his friend. We got closer and closer over the past 10 months because we both wanted to. He wanted to train me because he thought I was capable. 5 months of weekly training every Saturday and Sunday morning at the lair, right after his own training with his brothers and Master Splinter. Man those first few weeks destroyed me… but at least I can kick some ass now. And I got to bond with Leo some more, which is what I really wanted the most. He’s just so…. God he’s just everything to me! 10 months we’ve known each other, 10 months of laughter and fun but also fear and sadness. He’s so dorky and yet so hot at the same time! How is that even possible? Jesus just couldn’t decide so he just put both huh? _

You giggled at your own thoughts. _Even if he doesn’t feel the same way, I would prefer nothing more than to still be friends. His friendship is enough.__  
_

Right there, a tune came into your mind, a tune that you loved so much. Only Us from Dear Evan Hansen. The tune played and you couldn’t help yourself but sing out.

**“I don't need you to sell me on reasons to want you  
** **I don't need you to search for the proof that I should  
** **You don't have to convince me  
** **You don't have to be scared you're not enough  
** **'Cause what we've got going is good”**

You placed your laptop on the bed and picked up your phone, looking at Leo’s ID picture which was him smiling wide like a dork as he fanboyed over Captain Ryan.

**“I don't need more reminders of all that's been broken  
** **I don't need you to fix what I'd rather forget  
** **Clear the slate and start over  
** **Try to quiet the noises in your head  
** **We can't compete with all that”**

Getting up on your feet and walking towards the balcony, you slid open the door and the cool wind settled inside your room as you kept singing.

**“So what if it's us?  
** **What if it's us  
** **And only us  
** **And what came before won't count anymore or matter?  
** **Can we try that?  
** **What if it's you  
** **And what if it's me  
** **And what if that's all that we need it to be  
** **And the rest of the world falls away?  
** **What do you say?”**

Placing your elbows on the rail and resting your head against the palms of your hands, you finished Zoe’s part of the song. How you wished Leo could be your Evan Hansen in this song, you could just imagine him singing this song with you, both of you looking into each other’s eyes, both in love.

Yeah it was cheesy but it was all you wanted right now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PM me if you're interested in my commissions! :)


	21. Plan 10

So turned out Tiger Claw took Karai away. That sucked for the Hamato family. Raph had told you when he called you the night it happened and it made you feel bad for Splinter and Leo. Karai had finally found out the truth of her family, only for her to return to the toxic father she had grown to think as her true father. Truthfully, you also felt bad for her. It must really suck to be in her situation.

“Yo, Y/N!” A voice called you.

Currently, you were in the music room with Michael, Jeremy, Christine, Rich and the school’s self-proclaimed DJ, Connor Hankerson** (A/N: i’ve totally NOT been obsessing over dbh. Not at all. Im so original wow.)**. Connor was new but he sure had made an entrance when he first introduced himself in your advisory class, he rapped. He was an avid music fan. He also had said that he wrote songs of his own. One thing was sure; he was talented. He reminded you of that popular YouTuber, Roomie. He had brown hair combed to the side, hazel coloured eyes, he wore a blue hoodie and black pants with black sneakers. What was special about him was his genuine smile. He was truly passionate about music.

“Are you ready to jam out?” Connor asked, handing the microphone to you.

You looked up at him and everyone behind him - both Connor and Rich had their electric guitars, Michael was sat down on his stool in front of the drums with his drumsticks waving in the air, Jeremy played a few tunes with his bass and Christine was vocalizing. All of them had grins on their faces. Connor winked at you which made you smile up at him, get up from your seat and grab the mic from his hand.

“Hell yeah.” You responded with a smirk.

“Alright guys! Let’s go with the classics of the 80’s!” Connor announced and everyone cheered. “Ah-5, ah-6, ah-5, 6, 7, 8!”

Music blasted in the sound-proofed room, different tunes were played and everyone sang together in perfect harmony. Hell, out of surprise, the group would make up a random tune and you and Christine would make up words on the spot. Improv singing turned out to be fun. You were having a great time! Since Connor had arrived, you were the first person he had come to in order to ask if he could create a band. You, being a music fan yourself, had accepted and you were his first member. You had spoken about it to your other friends and all were on board and soon enough, a band had been created. However, it had only been a few weeks since you had been randomly jamming together and so your band didn’t have a name yet.

“Uh guys?” Christine called and the others slowly stopped playing. “We still don’t have a name.”

“Yeah we do!” Rich replied which made everyone look at him. “The Goranskis!”

“Booooo.” Everyone deadpanned.

“How about The Chili Dogs?” Michael suggested.

“Either you’ve been playing too many Sonic games or you’re too hungry to think straight right now.” Jeremy teased which made Michael scratch the back of his head and Christine giggle.

“Two-Player Game?” Jeremy suggested but the others made disapproving sounds.

“Dude there’s six of us.” Rich remarked.

“Fair enough.”

“Perfect Pitch?”

“Meeeehhh.”

“Six?”

“Eeeeehhhh.”

“Hey I got an idea.” You chimed, gaining everyone’s gazes. “We’re a pretty chill group right?” They nodded. “Lots of students are stressed in school right? ‘Cause it’s school.” They nodded again. “Well… what if we call ourselves Be More Chill? BMC for short.”

“Be More Chill huh?” Connor repeated before his fingers brushed over the strings of his guitar, creating a tune you had never heard of before. **“So don’t freak out, and don’t resist. And have no doubt, if I assist. You wi-i-i-i-i-i-ill-”**He paused. **“Be More Chill~”** He sang and you all applauded. He scratched the back of his neck. “Aw shucks guys.”

“How’d you come up with that?” Rich asked.

“I dunno. It kinda just-” his hand balled up into a fist as he brought it up close to his temple before extending his fingers. “-popped in like that.”

“You’re amazing.” You gasped.

“It’s no biggie. I love what I do.” That made your heart flip and you instantly grew fond of him. You needed to protect this bean at all costs.

It was late. The group had been jamming out until the cleaners had to kick you guys out so they could do their jobs. You all packed up and left the building, chatting away like young teens. Well, you were young teens - you were all just 16 years old. **(A/N: It’s 2014 in this fic fyi)**. Long way before you can get fu-

“Gotta head that way. See ya guys!” Rich said before taking the direction that went to his house.

Little by little, the group got smaller and smaller until it was just you walking. You could’ve taken the bus but taking a stroll under the moonlight in the city just felt so relaxing for you. The wind brushing through your hair, the lights bouncing off the pavements and reflecting on your skin and the smell of bubble tea was a delight for your nose. It was a nice night. Just you and your backpack and the sound of life emanating from the different streets and buildings of the city. You passed by a manhole cover and your feet immediately stopped moving. Your E/C eyes glanced at the cover, your mind wandered to thinking about the turtles, it had been a few days since you had seen them and truthfully, you missed them. It was Friday night so you might as well spend the night with them. Besides, April had texted you after school that she had gone to the lair to train with Splinter.

Down the sewers you went, closing it above you and landing your feet on the wet ground of the sewers. Since it was night, it was twice as dark and so you used your phone’s flashlight to guide you through the tunnel. All the while, you had your earphones on and you were blasting the Book of Mormon soundtrack. The album was just so good! What was currently playing was “I Believe” and you couldn’t help but sing along. The words left your lips with ease as you knew the lyrics by heart and while you were singing, you danced around and acted out.

Coincidentally, the moment you arrived in the lair, the song was reaching its end and so, for your grand entrance and the grand finale of the song, you walked past the turnstile, extended your arms out in the air, closed your air and looked up as you belted the last verse of the song.

“**I beliiiiiiiieeeeeeevvvveeee!!!**”

Casey and April, who were sitting down on the couch, turned their heads to you and applauded for your performance. You bowed and loudly said “thank you”, as if you were on stage and everyone was worshiping you. You put your bag down and sat next to your red-headed friend who whined about the pain in her whole body as she had just come out of her training session. As an act of friendship, you offered to massage her back and she gladly accepted which made Casey frown since he had asked her himself but he had had greasy fingers.

Seconds after, the turtles came back into the lair with Leo, Mikey and Donnie carrying Raph who had a bag over his head. You and Casey chuckled at the sight.

“Guess Raph really ticked you off this time.” Casey commented with a grin.

“Long story, but he got his brain switched with a Kraang.” Leo explained.

“Release Kraang now, and Kraang will disintegrate you relatively quickly!” Raph, in a Kraang voice, spoke with a poker face. You and Casey looked at each other before bursting out laughing. However, Splinter came out of nowhere and pulled on you and Casey’s ear which made you both wince. The rat master demanded an explanation and Leo did as told. The moment he finished, he, Donnie, Mikey, April, you and Casey were all about to mobilize to retrieve Raph's mind but Splinter halted you all. He reminded you that you should all consider being patient instead, as the impatience that Raph had was what landed him in the den of the enemy. April then asked what their secondary option would have been and before Splinter could fully reply, Donnie's Kraang Communication Orb started to buzz in his lab.

The gang then went inside to investigate and Donnie remarked that the device hadn't been active for months. He then booted up his laptop and the face of a Kraang droid, who was actually Raph, immediately appeared on the screen. Raph then reiterated to them that he had been trapped in a Kraang's body. Casey then started to openly tease Raph by laughing, but stopped when April nudged him. Believing that the Kraang could have easily imitated Raph's speech patterns, Mikey asked Raph to tell them what the 'secret ninja password' was. Raph angrily replied to Mikey's ridiculous comment, which Mikey considered to be 'close enough'. Donnie then brought up Raph's coordinates, which revealed that he was located under the surface of the East River near its confluence with the Bronx River, not far from Manhattan. Then, Donnie said that they may have to do some swimming.

You decided to tag along with them, thinking it would be fun. And so you followed the others to the small submarine that looked like a sea turtle. Adorable. Inside was a whole other story though. There were three work out machines that you didn’t know the name of in the center. In the front was where all the control was and behind was a small empty space where Mikey sat down with a chained up Raph. You were about to sit down on the middle one that looked like a bicycle but Leo insisted that he rides it and that you sit behind with Mikey. You smiled and accepted, going to sit next to Mikey. Soon enough, the sub departed.

Casey complained about the weaknesses that the vehicle had only for Donnie to logically describe the Sub, including its physical powering source. Leo then lowered the periscope, noticing that the Technodrome was straight ahead. Mikey happily stated that they were now home free since they were practically at the destination. Unfortunately, he stated this just when the Kraang's Water Creature showed up - and Donnie angrily yelled at Mikey for what he said previously. The creature then roared at the Sub, but then cuddled it for a second and left, leaving you and April completely confused. The creature came back, offering the Sub some garbage to 'eat'. You realised that-

“BAHAHAH THE THING'S HORNY FOR THE SUB!” You laughed out loud, holding your stomach as it started to feel painful.

Disturbed by this, Casey, April, and Leo started to power up the Sub, just to escape the creature. This made the Water Creature sad, and, thus, it then followed the Sub. Not long after, the team believed they had gotten past the danger, but Donnie then detected the beast on the sonar, and their Sub was ambushed once more. They attempted to distract the creature with torpedoes made out of bottles, but when this failed for the most part, Donnie booted up the engines since they now had gathered enough foot power. This caused the sea creature's tongue to get stuck in an engine. After pulling it out, the creature fled into the depths, as soon as the gang escaped.

You all breached the Technodrome and entered, just when an alarm sounded and the Kraang closed in on them from all directions. One Kraang then told them that they had been captured and would exterminate them shortly, but one Kraang droid stopped its 'comrade' and told it that they should spare the turtles so that they could swap minds with them. It then claimed that this was one of Kraang Prime's demands. The Kraang reluctantly agreed with it and walked away. The droid then accused the turtles of having had their presence revealed so easily and that was when you all realised that it was Raphael. Mikey and Casey then began pressing Raph's Kraang face, insulting him humorously and commenting that he felt like chewing gum. Raph, after pushing them aside, vowed to make everything right again and told his brothers to follow the Kraang.

The lot of you pretended to be captured by Kraang Raph as he led you to the pink and black room, where the mind-swapping device was. Raph told a nearby Kraang that the turtles would be a part of the experiment and when the latter protested against it, Raph threw his sai at it, initiating the fight. Raph’s body was still chained up and was left on the ground while you all fought. Your hair turned white and your eyes glowed as you threw ice spikes at multiple droids. Donnie immediately went for the control panels, trying to figure out how to shut the machine down before it could do any damage. Leo was by your side, slicing and dicing droids which sparked an idea in your mind.

“Hey Leo stay still.” You said as your fingers wrapped themselves around Leo’s hand that was gripping his katana’s handles. Frost coated the sharp metal of the elegant sword, inevitably making Leo’s hand cold in the process, but he didn’t mind. Your eyes met his and he understood what you wanted to do. He wrapped an arm around your waist, bringing you closer and adjusting his position so that you were facing him. A droid came close to you both and with one motion from the katana that you and Leo held, the droid was sliced, frozen and a couple more behind had the same fate. “It worked.”

“Woah! Y/N that was amazing!” Leo praised, looking down at you.

“I thought it was worth a try.” You said shyly, feeling embarrassed by the closeness between you and the handsome leader.

Suddenly, you both felt dizzy and so you held onto him to keep your balance but since he had lost his, he fell back and landed on the ground with you on top of him. When you both opened your eyes, you were shocked to see your own faces so close to each other. You shrieked and stumbled off of Leo - or well, um, your body. You looked at your hands only to see large, green, three-fingered ones. Your hands wandered around the body and noticed you had a shell, belt and a strap to hold Leo’s katanas. That was when it hit you.

You and Leo had switched bodies.

“Oh my God I’m a turtle.” You gasped. Before you could do anything more, a droid was about to shoot you only for it to be kicked away by Leo who was in your body. You cringed. “Do I really look like that?”

“Okay this is super weird but we have to keep fighting!” Leo urged.

“What the fuck do I do?! I don’t know how to use these!” You panicked, holding Leo’s katanas up. 

“You do! You did great in training!”

“Those were made out of wood! AND you were going easy on me ‘cause I’m a beginner.” You argued. “A-And you don’t have my fast healing ability a-and my lack of skills could get you hurt!”

“Hey.” Leo stopped you, holding your shoulders. “It’s okay. Just do what you can, alright?” You nodded. “Okay, now tell me, how do I do what you do?”

“It’s intuitive. Just raise your palms and shoot. Same thing for creating those spikes.” You explained and Leo nodded before leaving your side and shooting ice blasts at multiple droids.

_Damn I’m pretty hot_. You thought. _Wait does that make me gay for myself?_

“Stop pinching your own butt, Casey!” Casey yelled at April who was about to pinch her butt cheeks and you concluded that they had also switched bodies.

Meanwhile, Donnie kept trying to shut off the machine but was having a hard time. Soon enough though, with a few pressing of buttons, he was able to return Raph, Casey and April back to normal. Now it was just you and Leo left, still fighting the Kraang. You did what you could to prevent Leo’s body from getting hurt while Leo was just kicking ass like a boss, even in your own body. You saw the two guns of the device point at you and Leo before shooting you both, making you dizzy and fall to your knees. When you opened your eyes, all you could feel was pain in your body. You couldn’t move and you could only pant.

After Raph announced he was back to normal, Leo, now back in his hot body, ordered Donnie to sabotage the machine and so the genius did. He noticed you couldn’t move and grabbed you, holding you in his arms bridal style.

“Leo!” You panted. “Why am I so exhausted?”

“Uuhh that might be my fault.” Leo said with a nervous smile. “I think I pushed your body beyond your limits when fighting.”

“Guess I’ll be confined to a bed for a while.” You muttered but then you groaned when you remembered that the next morning was training with Leo. “But I have training with you tomorroowwww…”

“Tell you what, how about you take a break tomorrow morning?” Leo suggested as he and his brothers ran through the halls of the Kraang base, heading towards the Turtle Sub.

You gasped happily. “Really?!”

He chuckled. “Yeah. It’s kinda my fault you’re like this so it’s the least I can do.”

Happy by the news, you brought his face closer to yours and nuzzled your cheek against his. “Thank you! You’re the best!” Your lips then pressed themselves against his blushing cheek.

“No problem.”

In the Sub, the boys were working the vehicle while you and April were in the. April was exhausted and embarrassed by Casey’s previous actions. She was about to initiate a conversation with you but she saw that your eyes were fixated on Leo’s back. She chuckled.

“You’re so in love.” She whispered to you and you hummed with a smile.

“I am.” You sighed dreamily. “I really am.”


	22. The Invasion, part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up bois-

Karai had mutated into a venomous snake. You had heard the news and it broke your heart. Guilt crept up on you despite it not being your fault. Still, maybe if you had been there, you could have prevented it from happening. Either way, there was nothing anyone could do at the moment. Donnie had been working on a retro-mutagen right after she got mutated and the poor turtle was stressing out.

Not only that, the turtles informed you that the Kraang’s invasion was inevitable and that you should always be on your guard which is what you had been doing since they told you. Hell, you even asked the principal to tighten the security procedures to which he thankfully agreed. It was amazing how much trust he had in you despite you just being a regular student. Well, aside from your powers of course. Security measures included the reduction of time spent on after school activities which also included your band jamming sessions. Jeremy also knew thanks to Mikey informing him..

“Why did the security measures become so tight all of a sudden?” Connor asked as the 6 of you walked down the hallway towards the gates.

“For safety, duh.” Rich replied.

“Seriously, dude, why now?” Connor questioned again. “Does the principal know something we don’t?”

You could already feel yourself starting to sweat despite it being winter. “I’m sure if he knew something, he’d tell us, right?”

Connor hummed. “I guess.”

The rest of the walk was silent until your phone buzzed. You picked it up and saw you had a new message from the red-masked turtle himself.

_‘Karai search with me and Casey. 5:30 pm @ 41 bleecker strt.’_

You looked at your watch which read 4 pm. Since you would take the train, it would take you an hour to reach there. Taxis in New York were expensive as hell so no way were you taking that.

_‘K.’_ You typed back.

“Guys I’m heading to Bleecker Street.” You told your group of friends.

“Why?” Michael asked. “You going to see Dr. Strange?”

You snorted. “No way! I mean that would be awesome if he was real. But no, I’m meeting Casey there for a snack at a nice shop he found.” You lied.

“If I wasn’t full right now, I would’ve joined you.” Michael said whilst patting his stomach.

“Maybe next time.” You giggled.

The group became smaller as they all took different directions and stopped at different stations until it was just you. You first decided to go home and put your bag down as you didn’t want to drag it around for the search. Once you left your domicile, you went back to the metro station, waited for the train until it arrived and went inside. Despite having your earphones on, your e/c eyes scanned the train, looking for anyone suspicious that could be a Kraang droid in disguise. However everyone seemed fairly normal. Half an hour had passed until you arrived at the station and you looked at your watch to see it was 5:05 pm. The train had been slow during the ride so more time had been wasted. Picking up your pace, you speed walked out of the crowded and loud station and through the long street, looking at the building numbers. Your phone vibrated again and looked at the message.

_‘Look above.’_ It read and so you did and here you saw Raph on the rooftop with a telescope.

You smiled and walked over to the building. As you did, you saw Casey spray painting the wall of the alley beside the building. Curious, you went to check it out and you were surprised to see a graffiti of him and April. You had to admit, despite it being creepy, the guy had some mad skills.

“Like it?” Casey asked smugly.

“Uhh… Yeah it looks nice.” You said, faking a smile.

“Casey!” Raph called before jumping down from the rooftop. “We’re supposed to be looking for Karai! What are you doing, man?”

“Hey, I'm just taking a break, peeping at some awesome art. Check it out! That is so metal!” Casey beamed.

“Yeah, great. Come on, Casey. Let's move.” Raph dismissed before patting your shoulder. “Good to have you on board, Y/N.”

“So hold up, Raph.” Casey called, gaining the turtle’s attention as well as yours. “Uh, got a question for ya. So, uhm, April ever talk about me? Like ever?” You mentally facepalmed at his question..

“It doesn't matter. You know how Donnie feels about her.” Raph warned but in a softer tone, trying to get his human friend to understand who’s side he was on.

“Yeah, yeah, it's cool. When you've got that man/woman thing going on in a team, it just screws everything up. I'm not that into her anyway.” Casey lied, trying to sound cool.

Raph looked at the graffiti and then at you. You also gave him a knowing look to which he returned.

“Riiiiight.” He finished. He turned and was about to climb up the roof but he turned to look at you. “Need some help?” You nodded shyly. He rolled his eyes and crouched down so you could climb on the back of his shell. You slowly got on and suddenly, you were already on the side of the building, Raph expertly climbing without struggle. Damn, he was strong. He made it on top and crouched down for you to get off.

“Thanks for the lift. Jesus Christ you’re stronger than I thought!” You thanked as your feet touched the ground.

“Never underestimate me, sister.” Raph smirked which you returned.

While Casey continued to admire his work, you and Raph continued your search for the snake mutant that was once Karai. You had to admit, Raph was a really nice company to have. He cared for you as his own sister and you knew that - you felt the same for him. Although during the search none of you talked, just having him by your side felt nice.

Suddenly, Raph saw Karai slithering away on a nearby roof and called for Casey. However, before either of you could jump down, two police officers stopped Casey and attempted to bring him in for loitering. You and Raph looked at each other with concern, worried for Casey getting arrested. However, the black haired boy fought back and accidentally hit one of the officers with his hockey stick which revealed the man to actually be a Kraang droid. The second one also deactivated its disguise.

“They're already infiltrating! They're here!” Casey shouted as he pushed back the droid. The other one was going to attack but Raph jumped down and destroyed it. “Raph, what the hell is going on?!” As he asked that, a large triangular portal opened and thousands of droids came through, blasting their lasers at you three.

“The invasion's started! Back to the lair!” Raph instructed as he grabbed your hand and ran away towards the lair with Casey following next to him. Your legs finally decided to respond to you and you began running too, still holding Raph’s hand for support.

The three of you continued to run away from the attacks, avoiding oncoming cars and such. As a yellow car was about to drive past you, Raph picked you up and jumped onto the top of the car while Casey hung onto the rear. Raph held on tight as it took a sharp turn to avoid the large portal. The turtle jumped off with you in his arms and Casey let go, landing on the ground. He gently let you down but kept his hand wrapped around your wrist. Out of nowhere, a giant robot that looked like a pair of legs stood in front of the group. You were terrified beyond your life, so much your heart was racing and your stomach was twisting. By now you had already transformed but you were too scared to think clearly. Thank god Raph was holding onto you or else you would have passed out. Lazers emerged from the tall machine and began firing at you three which prompted you all to run away. They took a turn, another one and another one but the “Kraang Walker” as you called it, was still following behind. Raph kept shouting to keep moving to avoid getting zapped like the multiple cars that had been sent flying in the air.

The lot of you keep running until it stopped following. The three of you stopped for a few minutes, catching your breath. However those minutes went by like seconds as soon enough, you were back on your feet and climbing up a building to land on a rooftop. Just as you thought you could have a break, a loud buzz was heard and a portal opened up right above you where a Kraang scout ship flew past you.

“Dude, this is worse than that giant Technodrome thing last year! It's totally crazy!” Casey said, raising his voice so you and Raph could hear him.

“R-Raph…” You whispered, starting to feel your body shiver. “I don’t feel so good…” Looking at your hands, frost started forming around them. Because of how scared you were, you were literally starting to freeze up.

_You need me, Y/N. Give up._ Winter’s voice echoed in your head.

The red-masked turtle’s eyes met your scared ones and he grew worried. Before he could do anything to help you, his t-phone rang and Mikey’s voice was at the end of the line, telling his brother to meet up at April’s apartment. Raph ended the call and focused on your shivering form.

“Hey hey look at me, Y/N.” Raph softly called which made you look at him.

“I’m scared, Raph. M-My friends, they’re all in danger a-and I don’t know what to do…! T-They could be dead for all I know!” You croaked, starting to feel the tears coming.

“The only thing we can do right now is meet up with the others at April’s! We’ll think of something there.” Raph consoled. “Now snap out of it! We need you here with us now more than ever!”

Feeling his words resonate in your brain, your anxiety started fading away and was instead replaced with determination. You sniffed and wiped your tears away with the back of your hand, nodding at the turtle to let him know you were back to your senses. He smiled at you but suddenly he became alert when Casey warned him about the ship aiming its lasers at him. Before it could shoot, however, you shot an ice blast which brought the entire ship down. The boys’ eyes widened at you but you quickly told them to hurry up. And so, the three of you ran for your lives, towards the O’Neil’s apartment. Just as you reached the edge of the roof, another ship fired a laser at you which made the roof below your feet explode and launch you towards the ground. Thankfully none of you got hurt when landing on the ground and so you all got up on your feet and continued running.

Running past the gates of Chinatown, you all stopped upon seeing the biggest portal you’d ever seen open up. Tentacle-like legs emerged and soon climbed out a humongous Kraang fitted in a large robotic suit in which on the head was a tank of mutagen. You, Casey and Raph backed up and hid behind a dragon statue beside the gates.

“Yes! Kraang Prime returns to Earth!” The Kraang spoke evilly as the people of New York screamed and began running in all directions. “People of Earth, the Kraang forming of your world is about to begin!” As he said that, he raised a weaponized arm and fired mutagen at a group of civilians, turning them into a Kraang-human hybrid - kraanganoids. Their bodies were still human but their heads were pink blobs with multiple eyes and their arms were replaced with pink tentacles. No words came from their mouths, just screeching.

“No!!!” You and Raph screamed.

“Now that is **really** messed up.” Casey gasped.

As Prime continued to blast mutagen at people and other living things, including trees, he spotted you three and began chasing you. You all sprang into action and as you ran, Raph texted Mikey, warning him that they were being followed towards April’s apartment.

“You cannot run, earthlings! Your entire planet will transform!” Prime threatened as he mutated whatever he saw.

“Raph, what is going on?” Casey asked as he changed into his skates and continued running.

“The Kraang perfected the mutagen! They want to turn Earth into dimension X!” Raph explained. 

“Wicked!” Casey exclaimed.

“Wicked? Are you crazy?!”

“Casey I swear I’ll fucking wack you!” You scolded.

The more you all ran along the crowded street, the more people you saw running and screaming which made your head pound. Raph jumped from car to car before landing on the ground again. Kraang Prime then threw three cars towards you three - one in front of you to stop you from running, another one towards Casey where Raph pushed him away and the last one landed on top. However, because of the conveniently placed cars, the third one didn’t squish you, it stacked in between the nose of the cars beside you. When climbing out of the wreck, Prime aimed his weapon at you.

“Goodbye, lower lifeforms.” He spoke however something exploded against his back. “Aah! What?” He turned around to see hundreds of fully armed men with tanks and guns.

“Earth Protection Force, move! Get into formation. Flanking maneuver. Go, go, go! - Team two, cover quad four! - Hut, hut, hut!” One of the men ordered.

“Pathetic humans!” Prime was surrounded by tanks, armies and helicopters, all aiming their guns at him. At once, they all began firing and you, Raph and Casey took that opportunity to run. And so you did, your legs picked themselves up and followed the two boys towards your destination.

Finally, you three arrived at the apartment and Raph was greeted with a hug from Mikey and Casey also received one from April. Kirby immediately ran to you and engulfed you in a hug, crying in relief to see you safe and sound. You reassured him that you were fine thanks to Raph and Casey. When he pulled away from you, you hugged Donnie who had an injured wrist. He hugged you back however it was kept short as there were more pressing matters to be addressed.

“Leo is still out there.” Donnie informed which immediately alarmed you.

“What?!” You cursed and Mikey turned to you before speaking.

“Long story, sis. Basically-”

Suddenly, the world slowed down as Leonardo was thrown through the window, the small bits and pieces of the glass slicing his delicate emerald green skin, and crashed on the ground with a loud thud.

**He didn't move. **


	23. The Invasion, part 2

There he was - on the ground, motionless in front of his family.

His brother's calls for him were nothing but muffles in your ears as your eyes were fixated on the leader’s heavily bruised body. There were thousands of cuts, both small and large, and bruises, he was covered in snow, dirt and his own blood. His eyes were closed and his chest was barely moving. All you could hear was the heavy beating of your heart.

Then, coming in from the broken window, Footbots made their entrance with their weapons up and ready to attack. Quickly, Raph carried his bruised brother as April led the team out of the apartment and down to the panicked streets. When Donnie opened the front door, Rahzar jumped down and landed in front of him. However, before he could attack, Mikey threw a couch from the floor above, crushing the man-dog mutant. Tiger Claw then came from the side and started blasting his guns at you and the group. Normally you would be happy to be attacked by the hot mutant but Leo’s life was on the line and it affected you immensely. Donnie tossed his smoke bombs at the large cat man which exploded in his face, blinding him momentarily. Kirby then took the lead and ran you all towards his party wagon.

“What the heck is that?” Casey asked, thrown off by the ridiculously looking van,

“It's my old party wagon from back in my hipster days. Groovy.” Kirby smiled and did a peace sign with his hands however, he was suddenly submerged by mutagen which was fired at him by Kraang Prime who had peeked out of the corner.

“No!!” You screamed in agony as your emotions came flowing back and overwhelmed you.

“Not again!” April complained.

“April, move!” Casey pulled her away and everyone went inside the van with Casey and April on the front seats and the rest of you behind.

“Floor it, Jones!” Raph urged and Casey immediately began driving away.

While the car drove away, Kraang Prime was following closely behind, firing mutagen to attempt to stop the moving vehicle. Luckily, Casey found a small alley and drove through it which ceased Prime from chasing you as he was too big for the alley. The boy sighed in relief as he continued to make his way through the nearly empty streets. Raging fires were taking over, practically rendering the city unrecognisable. Casey kept driving until he stopped at a garage where it was slightly quieter. Raph bursted out of the van, urging to find Splinter but Mikey worried about what to do with Leo.

“He can stay with me and Y/N. I’m going back to search for my family.” Casey said with a frown.

With that, he steered the van away from the safe corner and went straight for his domicile. The drive was silent and all could be heard were your sniffling and small whimpers as you mourned. Not only did you mourn for Leo, you mourned for your guardian who had been turned into a mutant again right in front of your eyes and you mourned for your friends who mostly had turned into mutants as well. It was a nightmare that you wished you could wake up from. Soon enough, Casey stopped the car and got off, telling you that he would be right back before he carefully skated away. It was just you and Leo in the quiet vehicle now. His head was gently placed on your knees and you could hear his small breathing. Your fingers traced his cheek and jawline as tears kept flowing from your blood-shot eyes.

“H-Hey Leo… You can wake up now.” You whimpered. “It’s just you and me… Please, open your eyes…!” A sob escaped your moist lips. “C’mon Leo…! You’re our leader, we need you! **I** need you...! I would give anything to hear your soothing voice again… The same voice that calmed me and spoke sweet words to me, the voice that made me feel warm inside and happy… Oh, Leo… Don’t leave me… I love you too much to lose you…!”

Finally, you let it all out, your tears and cries of agony as you had lost too much for you to handle on your own. All you wanted was to have Leo hug you and tell you it was going to be okay but that wasn’t possible as he was hanging between life and death. His names left your lips countless times, feeling the need to have him whisper soothing words to you to calm you down. You mourned until you had no more tears to cry. How long had it been since Casey left? It didn’t matter to you anymore. Caressing Leo’s face, you hummed a small tune before softly singing it out.

**(A/N: the song is from the game Detroit: Become Human if you guys want to listen to it.)**

**“Hold on just a little while longer.**

**Hold on just a little while longer.**

**Hold on just a little while longer.**

**Everything will be alright.**

**Everything will be alright.”**

Casey finally came back and he was silent. No cheering, no beaming, nothing. He held a frown on his face as he started up the van again. As he drove around, he listened to your soft singing and he, too, mourned his loss. Turned out, he couldn’t find his father nor his little sister and he assumed the worst - they had likely been kraangified.

**“Fight on just a little while longer**

**Fight on just a little while longer**

**Fight on just a little while longer**

**Everything will be alright**

**Everything will be alright”**

By that time, tears rolled down the boy’s cheeks, feeling overwhelmed by immense sadness which was not something he felt often. Although his father was an alcoholic asshole, he still loved him and he had made a vow to protect his little sister. When his mother passed away, on her deathbed, she requested him to take care of his family and so that was what he had been doing for as long as he could remember. Now, he couldn’t find his family and blamed himself for not fulfilling his mother’s dying wish. A sob escaped his mouth which he covered up with a cough but it didn’t go unnoticed by you.

**“We will sing on just a little while longer**

**Sing on just a little while longer**

**Sing on just a little while longer**

**Everything will be alright**

**Everything will be alright…”** You finished.

“Hang on tight, Y/N.” Casey warned, his voice slightly wavering from his previous crying. “It’s gonna get bumpy.” He then focused on his target in front of him and his adrenaline went up, making him feel eager to hit it. “This is so metal!!”

With a small nod, you held the leader in blue closer to you as the car suddenly sped up. Closing your eyes, it crashed against a large object which turned out to be Kraang Prime who had been outside his suit. You looked out the front window to see Raph, Mikey, Donnie and April in the corner where Prime had just trapped them in.

“You guys need a lift?” Casey suggested confidently and everyone hurried inside. However, before he could drive off, a group of Kraang surrounded the group. “Oh no! They’ve surrounded us!”

“This is it dudes! I love you guys!” Mikey cried, holding Raph tight as he waited for the Kraang to destroy you all. You looked around to see hopelessness in everyone’s eyes. That was when you took a deep inhale and stood up with your fists clenching. Your eyes looked directly at the back doors of the wagon.

“Casey?” You called, catching his attention. “The moment you see an opening, you blast through it. Clear?”

“Y-Yeah.” Casey hesitantly nodded, gripping his hands on the steering wheel.

“What are you gonna do...?” Donnie asked, worried by your idea.

“I’m gonna clear us a path.” You spoke, mist leaving your lips along with your heavy breaths.

“Are you nuts?!” Raph angrily shouted. “You’ll get yourself killed!”

“It’s either me or all of you!” You snapped back coldly. “Leo would’ve done the same.” And with that, you opened the backdoors despite the brothers’ calls, freezing them shut to prevent them from coming out.

“You took **everything** from me.” You growled, your eyes glaring daggers at the leader of the Kraang.

“I don’t even know who you are.” Prime spoke back in an undermining tone.

“You will.”

Filled by anguish and fury, you tapped your foot on the ground which created a thick layer of ice on top. You did a few motions that Leo had taught you before flicking your wrist upwards towards the Kraang who had begun firing their lasers. That created spikes coming out of the layer of ice you had created, destroying the droids that had surrounded the wagon. However, as more troops came in along with a few scout ships. You shot ice blasts in front of the wagon which created a clear path as the droids had been destroyed. Gathering up all your emotional strength, you took a deep breath before shouting:

“Go, Casey, GO!!”

With that, the engine roared and the tires screeched against the frosty ground as the vehicle drove through the path you had created and finally out of your sight. You sighed in relief as you knew they would finally be safe. Turning your head, you stood tall as more droids surrounded you and fired their lasers at you, the energy of the blasts burning your skin. Each hit you took made you weaker until your body fell on the ground. Your breathing slowed down, your vision became hazy and your body felt colder than normal.

_Give in, Y/N. Or you’ll die._

“I... “ You breathed. “I give… in.”

And just like that. You were gone.

Icy blue eyes opened instead of warm e/c ones and the body that had been dying suddenly rose up on its feet. She took a deep breath in and out, the air around her turning into cold mist.

Winter was born.

“Heheh.” She chuckled evilly before jumping up high in the sky and shot multiple ice spikes at the droids, instantly destroying them which angered Kraang Prime. She flew up higher than the scout ships and shot them down with ice blasts. She landed gracefully on the ground, her feet both freezing her shoes and the ground below. “You can’t stop me!” She shouted before swooshing her arms in a circular motion which created a snow tornado with her in the center. The buildings, pavements and streets were coated with snow and ice, prompting Kraang Prime to run away. When the storm cleared, behind Winter was a man in a white lab coat with a taser gun pointed directly at her. Just as she turned around, he fired and the taser attached itself on her neck, the electricity stinging the area.

“Gaah!” She grunted as she fell on her knees. “No! I just started living! You can’t take that away from me!”

“Actually-” The man said as he approached the white haired female, lifting her head so she could look directly at his e/c eyes. “-I can.”

“W-Who…?” Winter was about to ask but she passed out. The man sighed and picked up her body.

“Finally, after 10 years… I found you, Y/N, my sweet daughter.” He whispered with a smile on his face.

The man opened a Kraang portal and went inside, disappearing off the face of the Earth along with your body.

Meanwhile, Casey drove through the long and quiet streets of the large city, heading upstate where April’s old farmhouse was. She used to go there every summer before her mother disappeared. Now, it was the only place she and her turtle family could go to escape from the mad invasion. In the back, a blanket was placed over Leo’s body and the brothers had sadness written all over their eyes.

“I'm sorry, Leo. You were right. If we'd just left the city when you said, the Kraang would never have found the lair and started the invasion, none of this would have happened…” Donnie apologized softly, feeling responsible for Leo’s condition.

“What's gonna happen now, Raph?” Mikey worriedly asked his red-masked brother. Raph looked at him sadly before bringing him closer to his side, holding him close to comfort him.

“For the first time in my life, I have no idea, little brother.” He answered.

“I miss Y/N… I miss Master Splinter.” Mikey croaked, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Me too.” Raph brought Mikey’s head to rest on his shoulder as the younger turtle let out his painful emotions.

The plan was for them to go to the farmhouse and rest up until Leo recovers but the question was how long it would take for him to even wake up.

And that alone worried the gang.


	24. Within the Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend is making a webtoon comic that I think you should all check out! It's called "Stranded by Scales". The summary is as follows:
> 
> As a 15-year-old teenager living in a rural area, Oscar loves spending his time hanging out in town and exploring the beach with his older neighbour Emmanuel. However, when they discover massive fish have caught themselves onto their heads, both boys become unable to return to their usual lives and try to adapt.
> 
> Make sure to check it out!

_I'll never forget the night we left New York City. The Kraang defeated us. Leo got badly hurt. Master Splinter is... gone and Y/N… she sacrificed herself to save us. We lost. We had nowhere left to go. So we came to the old farmhouse I grew up in, miles away from the city, a place we could all be safe in. The first thing we did was take care of poor Leonardo._

The gang arrived at the old and dusty house, parking the car and grabbing Leo. They opened the door and went straight for the washroom where the tub was. Donnie turned the water tab on, letting the water flow while the other brothers stripped him of his ninja gear and mask. They carefully placed him in the tub, making sure to leave his head out of the water and leaning against the edge. Donnie briefly explained the water was for him to stay hydrated and help him heal faster. All but Raph left the room to do their own things that would keep them busy. Raph took the responsibility to watch over Leo and wait until the day he would wake up.

_Raphael keeps a constant vigil over Leo, waiting for him to wake up. Michelangelo goofs around a lot, but he does a ton of chores around the house._

Mikey emptied the one bag of seeds on the grassy ground where a small herd of chickens pecked and ate. However, they were still angry and despite Mikey’s warnings, the chickens began pecking him. He started running around the barn, trying to pry them off.

_But mostly, he goofs around a lot. Donatello built a lab in the barn, trying to create a mutagenic medicine to heal Leo._

Donnie added one drop of his chemical into the vial however there was a reaction and the vial burst into soot, covering the genius turtle in it. Casey, who was in the back attempting to fix the truck, laughed at him. Right as he lay on the mechanic’s creeper and rolled himself right under the rusty vehicle, it suddenly collapsed on his chest. Getting back at him, Donnie laughed at him, mocking him.

_And then there's me, April o'Neil. I spend most of my time training with the Turtles and writing in my ever expanding journal. I miss New York, my Sensei, my dad. Hopefully Leo will recover, and we can all go home soon, if there's even a home to go back to. But life, as Master Splinter would say, we must continue on._

April finished writing, her pencil ceasing from touching the paper of her journal. A sigh left her pink lips; it was another day in the house, another day of mourning the losses, another day of reminiscing the times before the attack. Her mind began replaying beautiful moments in her life that she shared with the turtles and her other family members. She then thought about you. She reminisced the first time Kirby brought you to their apartment. One time, she had caught you crying on the couch as you had mourned the death of your sick mother. The young April at that time had comforted you and it was then she had first called you her sister. 10 years later, at 16 years old, she was supposed to accept you had died to save them? No. She couldn’t think that way. You were a total badass, no way could you possibly die so easily! April shook her head, coming back into reality. Her rosy cheeks felt moist and she realised she had cried when reminiscing the times before the invasion.

3 months later, during one of their daily training sessions outside, the turtles admitted that they were frustrated with the fact that they were meant for the sewers and not for a farmhouse in the woods and countryside life, not to mention that Leo may never wake up and that you and Master Splinter were gone. Later, while Raph kept vigil over Leo again, the rest of the gang chilled downstairs and watched Mikey's new favorite show: Crognard the Barbarian, which featured the protagonists battling creepy alien slugs.

“Guys! Guys! Get up here!” Raph urgently called from the upper floor. The others quickly ran up the stairs and crowded around the bathtub and all were surprised to see open sapphire blue eyes instead of lifeless closed ones.

“Leo?” Donnie spoke.

“Hey, guys…” The leader replied back but in a raspy and deeper voice.

Mikey wrapped his arms around Leo’s neck and hugged him, tears flowing down his cheeks, thus wettening his orange mask. Leo winced but hugged back nonetheless, comforting his baby brother. When they got Leo back downstairs, Donnie examined him with his first aid kit as the others filled Leo in on what had happened since he had been knocked out. As Leo continued talking, the gang realized that his voice became much deeper. Donnie revealed that the reason Leo's voice sounded different was because he had sustained damage to his throat and that he had overall received many injuries throughout his body. Fortunately, he would make a full recovery, but needed a long rest and must take it easy for a while. Donnie then gave Leo some of the medicine he'd created using mutagen, which Leo discovered tasted really bad. Raph reassured him that he'd be back on his feet in no time with training.

The next day, Raph and Leo went out together to work up Leo's weakened muscles. Even walking with a crutch proved difficult for Leo and he said that he thought he would never be the same again. Raph wouldn't hear of it and encouraged him to cross a creek over the rocks. The leader struggled back to his feet and so took another swig of Donnie's mutagen medicine from a glass flask. However, within moments he felt dizzy and nauseous and he dropped the flask onto the ground before vomiting onto the dirt ground. Raph came to find out what was wrong, and Leo explained that the mutagen medicine might have been the cause and that he didn't feel well. Raph helped him back to the farm house to rest, but the mutagen from Leo's vomit trickled down into the ground where a pair of glowing green eyes appeared.

Later that evening, Leo sat down on a comfy armchair next to the fireplace which kept him warm. April came out of the kitchen with some brewed tea and placed Leo’s cup on the coffee table in front of him. His eyes showed sadness as he had just been informed of what had happened to you and Master Splinter.

“I just can’t stop thinking about Master Splinter and Y/N.” Leo spoke, his raspy voice making him cringe. “Maybe they’re not really gone.”

“We saw it happen. Shredder threw him down a drain pipe. And Y/N… she took too many hits from the laser guns, she couldn’t have possibly survived that.” Donnie replied, his voice low and sad.

“Maybe Leo's right. I mean, Splinter was a great ninja Master and Y/N was a tough badass.” April suggested hopefully.

“The greatest of the century.” Raph mumbled, sitting on the large couch with his arms crossed.

“The toughest of them all.” Donnie added.

“Why…” Leo paused, taking a deep breath in to compose himself. “Why would she do that? Sacrifice herself?”

“She said that’s what you would have done.” Raph answered. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.”

Leo couldn’t find anything to say after that, all he could feel was his heart shattering. He had just woken up from a 3 month coma and all he wanted was to have you in his arms, safe. But his wish couldn’t come true since you weren’t in the farmhouse and most likely dead or kraangitized by then. Just the thought of it made his chest hurt and his eyes water. Finally, he broke down. He put a hand over his face and let the tears fall. The living room was silent, all could be heard were Leo’s occasional hiccups and sobs. What could be said? Everyone was mourning. Even Mikey, who had been waiting for his show to start since the start of the evening.

After a few minutes, Leo had calmed down and coincidentally, Crognard was about to begin but the lights suddenly went out. Donnie went to fix what he supposed was a blown fuse, but the fireplace died out too as did a flashlight he had used to. Raph left to go into the forest to chop up some more wood for the fireplace, but while he was out, he heard something creeping about the trees. He tried to tell himself that he was just working himself up, but suddenly a huge, swampy, tree-like creature with glowing green eyes came up behind him and engulfed him with its tendrils.

Later, the others began calling out for Raph who hadn't returned. Leo delegated that they would split up, with Mikey and Donnie going in one direction, and April and Casey in another, much to Donnie's disappointment. Leo opted to wait at the farm house since he didn't think he'd be of any use out there. While they were out on their search, April got the sense that they were being watched. Donnie and Mikey came across an old shack where they discovered the glass flask of mutagen medicine surrounded by candles… and a large leafy, plant-like creature with a red bandana who they figured out was Raph. Donnie suspected that he'd been infected by something. Suddenly Mikey got caught by a vine-like trap as did Donnie. Further away, April heard Donnie's screams but suddenly found that Casey had disappeared from her sight. She saw the swamp creature carrying a pitchfork and attacking Casey. Using her courage, she smashed Casey’s hockey stick against its back. However she got quickly trapped in its vines. While the redhead was trying to set herself free, Casey fought it but the creature gave Casey a solid blow, smacking his mask off. It turned on the now free April and chased her through the forest.

Meanwhile, Leo was struggling to walk without his crutch, using his swords to aid him in some way.

“Get on your feet, Leo. Stop whining and get up.” He ordered himself, getting up from the ground with the aid of his sword. “What a sad excuse of a leader… How can you protect your family like this?” He scoffed. “Y/N would be disappointed.”

“No she wouldn’t.” A new voice startled him. He turned his head to his side and saw… you.

“Y/N…? B-But how…”

“Don’t get your hopes up, Fearless, I’m your conscious, your voice of reason.” His conscience explained. “I look like Y/N because you miss her and you’re thinking about her right now.”

“I… I do miss her. So much…” Leo sighed.

“She’s fine.”

Leo looked at his conscience with wide eyes. “How do you know?”

“I don’t know, but I believe.”

“Wha…?”

“You don’t truly believe she's dead, that’s just ‘the self-doubt Leo’ that’s talking. Same goes for Master Splinter. Once you fully recover, you’ll find her and finally make a god damn move. So don’t stop believing, alright?”

“But… I’m injured and weak.”

“Right now you are. But after some time-”

“I don’t have time!” Leo snapped angrily. “How long will it take for me to get my strength back before more people die?! Before Y/N dies?!”

There was a pause and his conscience, who still looks like you, moved away from his side to approach his face. Because it looked like you and imitated your way of talking, he actually felt like you were there with him. He could feel his emotions welling up again, tears threatening to fall once more. You gently shushed him.

“I can’t do this alone, Y/N… I need you…! My brothers rely on me to lead them but with my condition… I-I can’t…! I’m such a failure!” He cried, collapsing on his knees.

“Leo…” You spoke gently. “You’re not alone. You have your brothers, they’re here for you. Usually, they rely on you but how about for now… you rely on them for a change?”

The leader sniffed and looked up at your beautiful face that he came to love. He couldn’t understand why he felt so attached to you, and why you meant so much to him. It had been almost an entire year since you two met and he couldn’t imagine his life without you. You had changed it in so many ways. You made his insecurities wither away, you made him laugh, you made him feel confident in himself, you made him feel like a good leader. Without you, he wouldn’t have the self-confidence he had now. He needed you.

**He loved you.**

“I know, Fearless. You go tell her that once you find her, yeah?” Leo nodded and with that, you disappeared and he was alone again. He got up on his feet with a groan.

Suddenly, he heard April crying out for help and attempted to run toward her when a vine came out and grabbed her by the heel, dragging her off into the dark forest. Leo stumbled and fell, realizing that he must go into the woods and rescue them himself.

Back in the shack, where everyone was tied up, the creature, who Mikey had named "the Creep" went to Raph and began absorbing all of the mutagen from his body. It dropped his bandanna, much to the turtles' horror. The Creep then went for Mikey, who was shouting angrily at it for turning Raph into a plant, but was suddenly distracted when it heard cries for help outside. Donnie recognized the cries as Leo's. The Creep searched around outside, finding nothing until a ninja star was thrown at the back of its head. Leo demanded that it give back his family and nervously took his swords out. He attempted to battle the Creep with what little energy he had, only scoring a slice at it, but it grabbed him and threw him away from his sword. He struggled to crawl slowly toward his crutch as the Creep approached with his other sword, but Leo managed to stab it just in time and hurried toward the shack where he freed everyone with excruciating effort.

The Creep returned and a short battle ensued. It was then that Leo realized that the Creep was after the flask of mutagen medicine. He tossed it to his brothers who tried to keep it away from the Creep but it managed to get a hold of it, but before it could do anything, with a little help from Donnie who gave him a boost, Leo came down with a pitchfork and stabbed the Creep into a tree, where April and Casey tied it up with chains. Before they could take him back to the lab, Leo asked Donnie if he would be able to save Raph, to which Donnie was honestly not sure.

Later in Donnie's lab, Raph woke up and found out what happened. Donnie told him that he had returned all the mutagen back into his body without any infection. Raph was informed that the Creep had been turned into goop, that Donnie had worked all night to save him, and that Leo had never left his side.

“We gotta heal up, Raph. We have a city to take back.” Leo said confidently as he helped Raph to his feet.

“I give that a big, fat, sloppy, wet booyakasha!” Mikey cheered, throwing his first in the air.

But even after all that, the jar containing the glowing goop of the Creep cracked.


	25. An Unexpected Reunion

_“Leo?”_

_“Hmm?”_

_“How are you so calm? An alien invasion is coming and yet… you’re not freaking out.”_

_“Freaking out won’t help. It’s important to stay calm so you can think clearly and think of a plan.”_

_“How do you do it?”_

_“It’s all in the breathing, Y/N.” His hand was on your chest. “Just breathe.”_

~~~

“Breathe Y/N! Stay with me!” A desperate voice of a man called for you as ringing made your head throb.

Rapid beeping from a monitor can be heard and your body was uncontrollably shaking. Someone held you down and tilted your head on your side so you wouldn’t choke on the foam that was leaking out of your pale lips. The man continued to call your name but they only were distant mumbles to you. Eyes still closed and ears ringing, the only senses you could rely on were the touch and smell. Your back was touching something soft, a mattress of sorts, there was a stinging sensation in multiple areas of both of your arms, almost like needles were planted inside, your feet were cold which meant you weren’t wearing any shoes. There was something stuck on your neck but you couldn’t figure out what. The smell of strong chemicals and mutagen practically burned your nostrils. The air felt different, it didn’t feel natural to you. Finally, it clicked.

You were in a lab in Dimension X, home of the Kraang. **(A/N: queue the opening song-)**

~~~

“Hhgnn… hhhnnn…” You groaned as you were finally starting to wake up after what felt like years of being asleep. “W-Where the… fuck am I?”

“Oh you’re awake! Thank God.” The man sighed in relief.

“Wha…?” Your eyesight was blurry but after a few seconds of adjustment, you couldn’t believe what you were seeing. A man with H/C hair and E/C eyes wearing a white lab coat, leaning against his desk that had multiple cables attached to various machines and monitors. The walls were metallic and had pink highlights, which was the look of a typical Kraang room. “Why… do you look so familiar?”

“Well... “ He paused before walking over to your bed. “I’m your father.”

“Yeah and I’m a fucking dimension traveler looking for The Book of Spells to cure my dimension of a deadly virus.” You sassed which made him chuckle.

“You have your mother’s fierceness.” When he said that, your head suddenly hurt as images of your parents flashed in your mind.

“Oh my God…” You gasped, slowly bringing your hand to his. “You were in my dreams.”

“Tell me more about your… dreams.”

“I saw you and mom in the hospital, crying over the news that mom had terminal cancer… I saw you going to Dimension X and speaking to one of the Kraang leaders… mom getting cured from that medicine you made… and that’s it.”

“That’s about right.”

“Wait a second!” You spoke loudly. “You’re working with the Kraang! Get the fuck away from me!” You attempted to get out of the bed but your legs weren’t responding to you. That didn’t stop you from creating an ice spike and pointing it at him.

“I-I can explain! Y/N please listen to me!” Your father begged, raising his hand up in defense. There was a brief silence before you lowered your spike. “I know what I did and I’m not proud of it. When I found out about your mother’s illness… the only thing I could think about it saving her. Losing her meant losing you as well… It meant losing my family! I-I couldn’t accept that… so after numerous trials and failed attempts, I decided to go off-world, find materials that weren’t from Earth. That was when I found out about the Kraang and to my shame, I made a deal with the general.” He took a shaky breath in and then out before continuing. “Kraang gives me the resources and materials I need to make a cure and in return, I work for them. Months later, I finally did it and it worked! You and your mother were finally safe! I was so happy…”

“Was there any… side effects to the cure?” You asked and he nodded.

“There was one. Cryogenic powers.”

“You mean mom had…?”

“Yes. She also possessed the same powers you have. It was a struggle to teach her how to control them but it worked out. 9 months later, you were born and your mother’s powers vanished. I theorized they were passed onto you but I didn’t have time to verify that since the Kraang came after me. I went into hiding… I had just gotten my daughter, I needed to at least spend time before I went away!” He ran a hand through his hair. “I was able to be undercover for 6 months before the Kraang found me and imprisoned me here for the next 10 Earth years. When the invasion started, I knew I had to come find you and thankfully I did.”

“Hold on. The guys told me time passes by faster here than back home. If 10 years passed on Earth then… shouldn’t it be centuries here? How are you still alive?”

“With this.” He responded before touching his temple and his appearance completely changed. He was entirely white and looked metallic.

“You’re a… robot?”

“Yes. While I was working here, I created a body for myself as I knew I had limited time here. When I was too old to keep going, I transferred my brain and heart into this body. I could have let myself die but… I needed to find you first. And… the invasion was the only way to do that.”

“I can’t believe it…” You growled. “You put lives at stake just so you could find me?! You’re fucking sick!”

“What other choice did I have?! I tried to stop it but everywhere in this goddamn place is being monitored! Anything I did wrong, I went to jail and was beaten!”

“...” Nothing came out of your mouth when he said that.

He came closer and wrapped his arms around you. No words were said as you both just embraced each other. You couldn’t deny, it felt nice to hug the person you thought had died so many years ago. After a few minutes, you both pulled away.

“I’m glad to see you’re okay. You’ve been asleep for a year.”

“A year?!”

“On this dimension - sorry.” He corrected himself. “So roughly about a month on Earth.”

“How come?”

“I needed to do something in regards to your powers. By the time I had found you, Winter had taken over you. I knew Winter was dangerous, so when I tranquilized her and brought her here, I got rid of her.”

“You got rid of my powers?!”

“Not your cryogenic powers, just Winter’s consciousness.” He revealed but you looked at him confusingly. He then pointed at one of his monitors in which the top one showed two brainwaves and the bottom one showed just one. “Before I brought you here, your body was functioning with two brainwaves; yours and Winter’s. That explains why you had trouble controlling your powers and why Winter was a different person from you. So-” He pointed at the bottom monitor. “- I combined both of your brainwaves, making sure that yours was the strongest. You and Winter are essentially one now. Winter’s brain was neutralized as a result of the combination but both of your powers are still intact.” He smiled. “You no longer need to worry about control anymore.”

“Wow… how did I not die for that?” You asked.

“Oh no you died multiple times.”

“What the fu-”

“BUT you fought through and you’re well and alive.”

You scoffed and rubbed your head, feeling overwhelmed by all the information you had just been given. A sigh left your lips.

“Y/N… Listen.” Your father spoke again, bending down and encasing his larger hands around yours. “You can’t survive on Earth right now, especially not on your own. If the Kraang see you, they’ll kill you. I was barely able to sneak you inside this secret room without being seen.”

“No I have to find my friends! I-I have to protect them!” You argued but he shook his head in disapproval.

“Please, for your own safety, stay here with me.”

“How long until we’re found out huh? We can’t stay hidden forever, someone will eventually find out.”

He sighed. “...Fair enough. Here-” Placing a box on the floor in front of you, he took out its content and found it was your clothes and a long hooded cape. “-you’ll feel more comfortable in these. The cape is to hide your identity. Now c’mon, I’ll help you get out.”

Nodding, you quickly changed into your normal clothes and wrapped the cape around your clothes body, pulling the hood over your head. Your heart raced as you both sneaked through the base. Thank goodness Leo had taught you basic sneaking skills or you would have had a hard time being quiet. Just the thought of his smiling face made your heart drop but you had to focus on getting out of Dimension X. After sneaking around for a while, you both stopped at a surprisingly empty room. It was so large, it felt like a mansion. In the center was a big monitor and a Kraang keyboard. Your father began typing away and soon enough, a pink triangular portal opened.

“There’s your ticket home. Hurry, before Prime realizes there’s an unauthorized teleportation.”

“You’re not coming?” You asked worryingly.

“I’m a prisoner here, Y/N. If I leave this dimension, they’ll immediately be notified and I can’t take the risk of blowing my cover. I’ll try and delay Prime’s plans for as long as I can. Just go!”

“...I’ll come back for you, dad. I promise.” You whispered as you hugged him before going through the portal.

There was a flash and then your feet touched the ground of the city. Opening your eyes, you were creeped out as it was very dark, all of the power had gone out since the start. Every building was either coated with mutagen or was cracked, windows were all smashed into pieces, trash was everywhere and it was completely silent. It felt like you were in a horror game. Your breath was quickening as you were starting to hyperventilate.

_“It’s all in the breathing, Y/N. Just breathe.”_ Leo’s voice echoed in your mind.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breath in, breath out. You repeated this multiple times until your breathing was back to normal and your heart stopped racing. After calming down, you decided to form a plan in your head.

_First, get some food._

_Second, go to the lair to search for any signs of Splinter. You didn’t know about his fight with Shredder._

_Third, find Michael. His house had a basement where he played Apocalypse of the Damned, maybe he was there._

_Finally, just survive._

Once you were satisfied with the plan, you immediately made a move, using your powers to freeze the ground so you could glide on the ice to the nearest grocery store. It was scarily quiet. Now it felt more like you were in a zombie apocalypse game which was honestly not far away from the truth about your situation. Thankfully, you found one and quickly hid yourself behind walls, peeking out to check if the coast was clear. After scanning your surroundings only to see you were completely alone, you went inside. It was heavily damaged, walls were broken, windows were shattered, shelves were knocked over each other like dominoes and all of the items were scattered on the floor. Luckily, you stumbled upon a big backpack and took it with you, grabbing mostly canned food, fruits and bread. It was all you could really take since you couldn’t cook anything with the power out. After gathering everything you needed, including a fork, a spoon and a flashlight, you went out once more. Thankfully, you recognised where you were; you were just a few blocks away from the manhole cover that led to the lair.

Opening the manhole cover, you climbed down and turned on the flashlight you had found. It was eerie and you could feel shivers running down your spine. You were so scared but you didn’t have a choice, so you made your way to your destination, still making sure to look left and right for any Kraang droids. Soon, you were getting closer to the entrance but the sound of Kraang droids made you stop in your tracks and hide. Of course they had found the lair. Thankfully, you spotted them and saw that there were only three of them guarding the entrance. So, you sneaked up on the side and headshotted them with your ice spikes. You internally applauded at your amazing aim for a minute before going inside, using the skills that Leo had taught you. You were in the living room and the sight made you tear up; the Space Heroes pinball machine was turned over, the couches had burn marks, the TV screen was broken and there were broken Kraang droids everywhere. It was a sea of droid corpses. A sob left your lips, feeling yourself getting emotional but you pulled yourself together. You took deep breaths before heading towards the dojo to hopefully find the master rat. However, you felt drawn towards another room; Leo’s. Your feet moved towards the leader’s room and you went inside. It was dark, much like everywhere else for that matter, but you made out his bed. Growing tired, you lay down, feeling the tiredness overwhelm you as you drifted off to sleep.

A scream woke you up - but it wasn’t just any scream - it was Splinter’s. Immediately, you sprang into action, tightening the straps of your bag against your back and bolted out of the room and towards the source of the scream. Running through the tunnels, flashlight in hand, the sound of grunts and metal clashing were growing louder and louder until you reached the large part of the sewers and there in the center was a deranged Master Splinter ripping apart Kraang droids.

“Master Splinter!” You called and he turned his head to you with his crazy eyes. He growled and hissed. “Please sensei, it’s me, it’s Y/N!” You cried with your hands out in front of you.

However he pounced on you and scratched your cheek.

**Master Splinter didn’t recognize you. **


	26. Inside the City of New York

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Blood, gore, Reader screaming and suffering in pain
> 
> you could tell i was inspired by The 100 season 2 
> 
> we all know the bone marrow scene :")
> 
> y'all thought this fanfic was kid friendly? pffffft 

“Master Splinter it’s me! It’s Y/N! Stop it!” You begged, your back on the floor and your arms up to hold up the deranged rat master to prevent him from scratching the life out of you.

With a grunt, you used all your force to push him away and got up on your feet with your arms out in defense. Your E/C eyes were fixated on Splinter’s hazel eyes, his black pupils retracted like a dried raisin. He hissed at you and circled around you, waiting for the moment to strike. He sensed your nervousness that only only stressed you out even more. Splinter could actually kill you considering his immense strength. Just that one strike on your cheek made it longer to heal. You had to find a way to get through to him somehow. The stress was getting to you, tears were once again filling your eyes and your breath quickened. Splinter had stopped circling around you, his body was facing yours. Suddenly, you collapsed on your knees, your hands held your head and sobs came out of your moist lips. You were crying, again. Splinter’s eyes then softened at the sight and he slowly and carefully approached your shaking body. Your head turned to look at him.

“Please… You’re all I have…! I’m so alone… Help me Splinter! Help me, please!” You cried, attempting to wipe your tears away but failed as they kept flowing down. Then something unexpected happened; Splinter sniffed your face and then nuzzled it with his. Instinctively, you wrapped your arms around his neck and leaned against his muzzle. “Leo’s hurt… there was nothing I could do… A-And look at you, you’ve lost your mind and I don’t know what to do! I’m so fucking useless… I wish I could’ve taken his place, at least then his brothers would have him when they need him…” You mumbled through the waterfall of salty tears. “This is so fucked up…!”

After a few minutes of crying, you stopped but still kept your arms around him. Strangely he didn’t move away, he kept you close. He finally recognised you and you were grateful, you weren’t alone anymore. Using the small bit of courage you had, you got up on your feet, your backpack practically hugging your spine.

“I wish I knew what happened to you for you to… be like this.” You said, looking at the rat. “Either way, we have to keep moving. That’s what you would have told me to do.”

Splinter’s ears turned upright and his head tilted to the said, curious at what you were saying. You chuckled - he looked adorable like this. You definitely felt better. With a motion of your hand, he was at your side and followed you out of the sewers. Once on the surface, you continued with your plan in which the next step was to go to Michael’s house. Considering where you were, his place would be very far for you to walk and you didn’t know how to drive. Nonetheless, your mind kept telling you to walk there and so you did.

Step after step, breath after breath, you grew more and more tired. Despite it being day time, since it was winter, it wasn’t very sunny. Fitting considering it was the apocalypse. Splinter was always beside you on his four feet, trotting and smelling around for any danger. It felt nice to have a companion with you, especially Splinter even though he wasn’t in the right mind. You felt less lonely. Hours went by before you finally arrived at the house. You and Splinter were both panting so you kneeled down, opened your bag and took out a water bottle that you had gotten from the grocery store you had found the day before. The water went down your throat with ease and it made you feel so much better. Turning to Splinter, you held his chin up and poured the water in his mouth and he gulped large amounts of them until the bottle was empty. You put the bottle back inside the bag and carried it on your back before going inside.

It was silent and dark, there was no sign of life anywhere at all, which saddened you. Unfortunately, there were a few Kraang droids inside the living room and kitchen but they were easily and quickly taken care of by you and Splinter. After destroying them all, Splinter looked up at you and you pat his head as if to tell him he did a good job. You walked towards the wooden stairs and carefully went down but much to your dismay, the step your foot touched made a creaking sound but nothing happened. So you peaked your head out of the corner and your eyes met the sight of Michael’s typical messy basement but sadly, there was no sign of him. Your eyes then caught sight of a shining object and you pointed your flashlight at it only to find a phone. You picked it up and saw that it was on. More importantly, a video started playing and you saw Michael’s face.

_“Apocalypse of the Damned: Level 15 ladies and gentlemen! I’m surprised I made it this far but hey, the more you practise, the more you get the hang of it~”_. He said in a sing-song tone which made you chuckle sadly._ “Alright let’s-”_ A loud thud was heard and Michael visibly turned his head to look back. _“What was that?” _Then, two screams were heard which made Michael stand up on his feet in worry._ “What the fuck?! Mom?!”_ He called but he was answered with more bangs, thuds and screams until it all stopped. Michael raced to his console to turn it off and then switched off the lights. The video was just black but you could still hear Michael’s shakt breathing. _“Someone’s here…!”_ He gasped.

Minutes went by before he started screaming, accompanied by a few droids’ voices ordering him to follow them outside so they can mutate him. You couldn’t see but you could tell he struggled to fight back until the droid shot him and they carried him out. The video then ended.

“Oh Michael…” You whispered, covering your mouth with your hand.

Right then, you felt a stinging on your bicep and you turned around to see a droid with its gun out. Splinter immediately sprang into action and destroyed it. You groaned at the pain but resisted from crying. You took out the first aid kit from your bag and treated your wound, finishing it off with gauze wrapped around it. Taking a deep breath in and you, you and Splinter went out once more. The sun was setting and so instead of finding a hideout for the night, you decided to go back to the basement and rest there.

Once there, you sat down on the couch and rubbed your sweaty face. In the dark with the only source of light being from your flashlight, you lay down and looked up at the ceiling. Splinter lay down on the floor right next to you which made you smile. Your fingers scratched his head and he smiled, emitting a sound that meant he was content with your action. You giggled, it was a sight you never thought you would see.

“So what now, huh? We could stick here for a while. There’s food, I have water, there’s a couch - everything we need basically. But… the Kraang could come back at any time. There’s millions of them and they’re all checking every home for any survivors they can mutate.” You spoke. “How about this: we stay here for tonight and the next morning. After having our lunch, we head back out. How does that sound?” You looked at Splinter who just kept smiling since you were still scratching and patting his head. “You like that, huh? Never thought I’d be doing this to the wise ninja master.” You chuckled.

Eventually, you fell asleep.

The next morning, you and Splinter stayed in the basement as planned and played together. You had found a ball and so you played fetch with him which overall felt weird but you were sure he wouldn’t remember any of this once he would get his memories back. Lunch hour came by faster than you had thought and so you ate what you found. After eating, you grabbed more supplies and then went out.

It was just you and Splinter now. Every day was the same; find food, shelter, fight, hide, search for any survivors all while trying to avoid being seen from the Kraang. These repetitive days continued for 2 months and all whilst surviving, you bonded with Splinter. You took the time to tell him everything; your life, your achievements, your failures, things you liked, things you didn’t, your feelings. Yes. You told him everything you felt about Leo.

“He’s the guy I never thought I needed in my life. We both just… yknow, get each other! We both have leader positions so we understand each other’s struggles and we’re here for each other. He’s my hero. It’s hard to describe how I feel about him… I feel so much! When he’s around, it’s like the world around me disappears and it’s just him and me. Is this really how love feels like?” You looked at Splinter who had his head rested against your lap. “That’s what you must have felt with Tang Shen, right? This strong desire to be with her, this feeling that you’ll always love her despite her flaws.” Splinter simply looked at you, confused since he couldn’t understand you. “That’s how I feel about him, I guess.”

Another night passed which marked the end of a month and the start of a new one.

Little did you know this month was going to be drastically different.

One night, as you were finding a place to stay, you were ambushed by the Kraang. Somehow, when you were hiding, one of those weaponized flying drones found you and called for backup. Now, you were surrounded by countless droids and scout ships. One of them ordered you to come with them for your mutation. Even with your power, you couldn’t possibly fight all of them. If you did, you would end up dead like last time. More importantly, you didn’t want Splinter to get hurt. So you created an ice dome around you and Splinter, with the droids firing their lasers at the dome.

“This won’t hold long so I need you to do something for me.” You spoke, staring directly at Splinter who listened to you. “When I open this dome, I need you to run back to the lair where I found you.” Splinter tilted his head. “Lair.” You articulated and Splinter nodded, turning to look behind him. “Yes, yes. The lair. You go back there.” Splinter looked back and forth between you and behind him before he nodded. “I promise I’ll meet you back there once I’m done with these goons.”

With that, you dramatically extended your arms to the side which made the dome explode, creating multiple ice shards that striked a few droids. Splinter immediately took off running, heading back to the lair where he would hopefully be safe. However, there were too many Kraang for you so you got shot over and over again. Using your small percentage of strength, you blasted yourself in the air and flew away but a scout ship followed you. You tried to avoid the electric shots but you eventually failed as you suddenly felt electricity burn the insides of your body. You crashed on the ground and the world went black.

Later, your eyes opened again and surprisingly, you weren’t outside. There was a ceiling above you that had a fan attached to you and there were buzzing sounds as well as liquid bubbling. That was when you realised you were in a lab.

“You’re awake…” A voice spoke. Turning your head to the side, you saw Baxter Stockman. You tried to move but your wrists and ankles were bound to the table you were laying on. “I’ve been looking for you… You zzzeee, I’ve been doing rezzzearch on how to make the Foot clan zzzztronger. When I zzzzaw what you can do, I knew that wazzz what I needed to to complete my mizzzzzion.”

“Fuck off! You ain’t taking my powers!” You spat.

“Oh but I can, Y/N. Your blood is zzzzpecial zzzzo all I need to do izz drain you of it all.” Baxter explained and then proceeded to laugh evilly which made you sick to your stomach. Panic was all you could feel as you kept trying to set yourself free from the metallic cuffs that held you down. “No need to panic, I’ll make zzzure you zzztay alive long enough for you to watch Shredder take over the zzzzity.”

“Nooo!!” You screamed. “Shredder’s powerful enough! That motherfucker doesn’t need my powers!”

“On the contrary…” A deep and dark voice interrupted. You looked to the side to see the man himself. “It will ensure Splinter and his wretched sons’ deaths.”

“Shredder…” You growled. “I swear to fucking God. The guys’ll come back and they’ll kick your ass so hard you’ll regret ever messing with them!”

The man turned around but didn’t walk away. “Begin the procedure and make sure she suffers.”

“Yezz mazzzter.” Baxter replied before Shredder disappeared in the shadows.

The fly mutant grabbed some cables and needles, injecting you with a liquid and attaching the cables to the platform you were on and a machine. Then he pressed a button and suddenly, pain surged through your body and you erupted a blood curdling scream. With adrenaline rushing in, your hair turned white and your eyes glowed which made Baxter smirk. That was exactly what he needed but he kept shocking you just for his pleasure. You felt pain before, but nothing as agonizing as this. A few seconds later, the electricity stopped and you panted loudly, trying to catch your breath from all the stress that was put into your body. What your ears picked up next made your skin crawl.

Drilling.

Once again you tried to set yourself free but it was futile as you were still stuck to the platform. The drilling echoed in the large room which only scared you more. Baxter approached your strapped body and slightly lifted your shirt so your hip was exposed. He then took a scalpel and dug it into your skin to create an opening. You hissed as you felt the sharp pain and blood leaked from the open wound. Then, Baxter took his drill and inserted the tip deep inside until it reached your bone. Next thing you knew, you felt nothing but extreme pain.

_Vrrrr._

Another blood curdling scream burst from your sore throat which was accompanied by the loud drilling of the tool. The metal was ripping apart your skin, muscles and bone as he was digging to find bone marrow. It was excruciating for you, you screamed and screamed even though your throat felt sore from your previous screaming. It was agonizing and there wasn’t anything you could do. You were trapped in an endless world of pain and suffering.

Minutes after, the drilling stopped and Baxter took his needles to insert them in the hole he created in your skin and extract the bone marrow. That area felt numb now after all that drilling and you were just bawling your eyes out, calling out the turtle’s names, calling for them to save you. Baxter ignored you and continued on with his extracting until he had what he needed. He called for Tiger Claw to come and get you. The clamps that kept your wrists, ankles and waist down opened but you were far too weak to get up or even try to escape. Tiger Claw came and picked you up before walking away. He went up a few stairs and placed your weak and limp body in a large cage that had a hamster wheel, water. The cage had a thick glass door that kept you prisoner. Baxter came into your blurry sight and chuckled evilly.

“You’ll have two weekzzz to recover before we repeat the prozzzedure.” He informed you before flying off with Tiger Claw. You couldn’t speak, you just felt sore all over.

Over the course of the month, the cycle continued. Two weeks of recovery where you were given food and water and then extraction of bone marrow. What was worse was even during those two weeks, Baxter made tests and experiments to see the durability of you and your powers, to see your limits. After the first few procedures, your powers kicked in rapidly and healed your wounds fast, reconstructing the bone, muscles and skin cells. Later, however, after each procedure, your fast healing ability got slower and slower…

Until it stopped.

Your powers, by then, were **gone**.


	27. Return to New York

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is one of my fav episodes. the soundtrack in this was so fitting and really played into the suspense. I highly recommend rewatching this ep and paying close attention to the music, especially when the turtles are in the party wagon.

It was time to return to New York, to return home.

The turtles had completely changed the party wagon into a weaponized vehicle and they were proud of it. They all gathered their things from the farmhouse and packed everything inside. There wasn’t much to bring, just their weapons, gadgets and other necessities. Donnie had to say goodbye to Dr. Cluckingsworth M.D and Raph was disturbed by the sight of his genius brother hugging a chicken with literally a giant brain. April said goodbye to her old farmhouse and made a note in her mind to bring everyone here for a few days just to enjoy themselves. Soon, they all got inside the wagon and Casey started the engine.

“Hello, New York City!” Mikey exclaimed happily as they all drove off towards the invaded city.

“All right, team. First, we track down Master Splinter and Y/N. Then we hunt for Karai and free the city.” Leo explained upon arriving at the gates of the city.

“So what’s the plan for a fearless leader? Ninja-y or all out attack?” Raph asked.

“Ninja-y. We park at the gate and sneak in. Then we split up and search for Master Splinter and Y/N.” Leo replied, his heart racing at the thought that he would see you again.

However, they were stopped when a few spotlights were flashed on them. Mikey instantly began panicking but his brothers held him down and covered his mouth so he would refrain from making any more noises. A soldier approached Casey and told him that no one was allowed in or out of the city but as the army prepared their lasers, Casey put on his mask and smashed his foot on the accelerator pedal, forcing his way through the gates and made it inside.

It was deserted, no one was around and the streets were eerily quiet. It was a terrifying sight which made the gang’s heart drop, especially at the thought of you trying to survive here. Mikey wondered if the Kraang had mutated the entire population and April said she was picking up thoughts from only a few hundred people, meaning there were millions missing. They soon ran into Kraang soldiers, so the turtles got to test out the Party Wagon’s soda cannons and stink bombs, both of which prove effective as they made their escape. Using the Shellraiser's old subway access hatch, they entered the subway. The group did some effective ninja-ing, evading Kraang robots. Donnie asked April if she could use her powers to find Splinter but April said that since Splinter's spirit had detached from his body, she wasn’t sure what had happened to him. As for you, April simply couldn’t find you. Somehow, you were far away for her powers to reach which disappointed Leo; he was so eager to find you. Mikey suggested that they start searching for you and Splinter at the lair.

At the lair, Donnie, Leo and Raph went inside and searched while Mikey, April and Casey stood behind. They were swift and quiet, using their ninja skills to the fullest. They each went into their rooms and Leo was surprised to feel that his bed was colder than usual. When he looked at the bed frame, he noticed some frost and he immediately knew it was you.

**You had been in his room.**

He couldn’t blame you; you were scared and likely wanted to rest at a familiar place that would bring you comfort. God, he just wanted to find you right now and tell you that you were safe again. However, he would only be able to do that once he found you. The three brothers then went for the dojo and they were extra sneaky so as to avoid the robot security system. Leo went inside Splinter’s room but found no one. They then rejoined with the others, breaking them the news that they couldn’t find anyone. It was then April suddenly made a psychic connection with Splinter and led the turtles to their master. After they all follow her, they found him only to discover that instead of acting like an experienced ninja, he acted like a savage rat, biting and attacking anything in his path. As they tried to calm Splinter down (including keeping him from chewing Casey’s face off), and talk some sense to him, a Mouser called in for backup, and Foot soldiers appeared. Despite their best efforts, Splinter got captured by Foot soldiers and was brought to the Shredder.

At Shredder’s Lair, Tiger Claw expressed his concern about the Kraang’s desire to conquer Earth and eventually betray the Foot. Shredder was aware of the situation, and assured him that soon they will eliminate the Kraang and claim control of the city. The Foot soldiers then returned with Splinter, which surprised both Shredder and Tiger Claw, who had believed him to be dead. Seeing Splinter, who clearly had lost his mind, Tiger Claw asked if he should put the rat out of his misery, but Shredder disagreed and had him taken to Baxter Stockman instead.

At Stockman’s lair, you were held in the same cage you had been in for the past month, covered in dried and fresh blood. You were sitting down against the wall, hugging your knees and hiding your face. Shredder then came in and locked up Splinter with you. Upon hearing the rat master, you snapped your head up and weakly ran to him, bringing him in for a tight hug as you cried your heart out.

“Stockman! I want you to restore Hamato Yoshi's mind. I want him fully aware of who and where he is before I finish him off.” Shredder ordered. You didn’t bother glaring at him, you were too relieved to have Splinter in your arms again.

Meanwhile, the turtles had found an access to the evil lair but before they could go inside, they were attacked by a miniature mutant Shredder which they mocked. The mutant attacked the turtles but they quickly brushed it off and went inside the building. Once inside, the turtles silently made their way towards the cage where you and Splinter were held. They didn’t know you were there though.

“You want this cheezze, don't you?” Baxter taunted, waving around a plate of fresh cheese in front of Splinter who had stuck his tongue out. “You want the nice swizz cheese, yeah? Hmm, come on. Take the cheezze. Come on.” Baxter then spewed acid on it and ate it whilst Splinter gave a horrified look.

“Fuck off, Baxter. Leave him alone.” You spat. Leo gasped and looked at his brother with wide eyes.

**You were here.**

“Hmpft! You’re not one to give orderzzz here, Y/N. Know your plazzzze.” He replied before flying away.

“Asshole…” You mumbled before hugging your knees again, burying your face in them while Splinter cuddles up to your side, keeping you warm.

The turtles took the opportunity to jump down to the ground, landing right in front of the cage. Donnie, Raph and Mikey looked at Leo worryingly as the leader looked at your weak state. They knew how much you meant to him so seeing you like this was extra painful for him. Your clothes were dirty and coated with dried blood, they were ripped and had multiple holes, your hair was messy and you had countless bruises and cuts on your skin. Leo’s blood boiled at the thought of all the horrible things the Shredder had done to you but he put it aside for now.

“Sensei…! Y/N…!” Leo whisper-shouted, knocking at the door to gain yours and Splinter’s attention. Splinter reacted and cautiously approached the glass door, recognizing the turtles as he had encountered them before.

“You’re not tricking me again with your holograms, Baxter.” You said, not lifting your head.

“Y/N… it’s me. It’s Leo… please, look up…!” Leo begged, tears threatening to fall. “Quick, get them out of there!” He ushered, addressing his genius brother who was working on hacking the system.

Frustrated, you angrily stood up and turned your head to the glass door, making eye contact with the blue eyes leader. You huffed and banged your fists against glass, glaring daggers at him which only made his heart sink even more. He had never seen you look at him with such hatred.

“Shut off that damn hologram Baxter! I know you’re tricking me!! Fucking stop it right now!!” You yelled in anger.   
  


When the glass opened, Leo immediately brought you in his arms and held you tightly with his arms wrapped around your waist and torso. Instantly, your anger washed away and was replaced with relief as you realized that the turtle hugging you was in fact real. Finally, you broke down and cried, burying your head in the crook of his neck.

“You’re here… You’re really here…!” You sobbed. “Oh Leo…!”

“I’m here now, Y/N… You’re safe with me…!” Leo spoke softly, his voice wavering.

Mikey then joined in on the hug and soon enough, a group hug had formed. Tears just kept flowing down as you embraced your family, feeling relieved that they were back and they saved you.** (A/N: y’all im fuckin sobbing)**. However due to the time constraint, the hug was cut short and they all moved away from you, Leo being the last one. Your hands were cupping his cheeks and your bloodshot eyes looked at every inch of his face. He had changed slightly. You couldn’t put your finger on it but all of the turtles had changed slightly.

“You all look… different. I don’t know how exactly but… you look stronger.” You said, your voice weak from your previous yelling.

“That’s because we are.” Leo replied, putting his hands on top of yours.

“Your voice…” You remarked, noticing Leo’s voice change. It wasn’t smooth as it was before, it was more deep and raspy which you didn’t mind all that much, it made him more mature.

“I know. My body took more damage than we thought.” Leo chuckled, kissing your hand as he removed it from his face but still held onto it.

“I hate to break the romantic reunion but what do we do with Splinter?” Raph interrupted which made you both snap your head at him. Behind the hamster wheel was Splinter hiding with his ears down, seemingly sad that you had forgotten him.

“It’s okay, Splinter. They’re your sons. Come here.” You cooed, smiling softly at the rat master. Your soft tone and reassuring words prompted him to come out of hiding and approach you however he quickly hid behind you. “No need to be shy. They’re your family.”

“Did you tame him or what?” Raph scoffed.

“He recognizes me in a way, somehow. He was like this when I found him a few months ago and I didn’t know how to bring his memory back. I tried jogging his memory by telling him fun moments we had at the lair or showing him pictures but nothing worked.” You explained, patting Splinter’s head.

“Red, you remember the time you reached the guys through their dreams?” Casey asked April which she nodded. “What if you could, like, do the same thing for Splinter? You know, mind meld and stuff?”

“Hmm, based on my research on telepathy, it might be possible.” Donnie supported. “But there is only one way to find-”

“What izz this?” The familiar voice of Baxter cut him off. “Bzz, turtles? Here? You were all destroyed! Zzz!”

“How's this for ‘destroyed’?” Raph taunted and threw a ninja star at the fly mutant. He dodged it and fired acid vomit at the group.

“Look out!” Leo warned, avoiding the acid with you by his side. “April, try and wake Splinter up.” Leo ordered then looked at you, holding both of your shoulders with his large hands. “Y/N, stay with them and out of harm’s way, okay?” His hand then moved to your cheek and caressed it before moving away, taking his katanas and going into battle.

The fight with Baxter was quick but the fly mutant had other plans. He unleashed his three Shredder mutants which consisted of a shrimp, a lobster and a crab, all of them had Shredder’s physical build. Each turtle then began fighting a Shredder mutant except for Mikey who was still after Baxter. The turtle struggled as the sea mutants were clones of the Shredder which meant they all had their master’s skills and power.

Meanwhile, you, April and Casey tried to snap Splinter out of it. You watched as April used her telepathy to get through to the master. Splinter grunted and held his head as memories of his fight with Shredder came back. When he opened his eyes, he looked at Casey, who had his mask on, and thought he was Shredder and thus launched to attack him. He pinned him down and attempted to bite the teenage boy whilst you and April tried to pry him off. However, Casey tased him, making him scream before collapsing on the ground. You rushed to Splinter’s side and assessed the damage but luckily there were no burn marks, he was just passed out. You couldn’t blame Casey though, he was defending himself.

Suddenly, the alarm went off and the brothers angrily shouted Mikey’s name as he was the one who accidentally sounded the alarm. Nonetheless, you were too focused on Splinter and soon enough, he woke up but he was still deranged. He pushed you and Casey to corner April, attempting to bite her however her powers were seemingly more effective from a closer range as after pressing her hands against his head, Splinter was once again himself. He smiled proudly at you three, glad to be a man once again.

He quickly sprung into action and rescued his sons, defeating all of the Shredder mutants with a few moves. The brothers all hugged their father, happy to have him back to his old self.

“How I have missed you, my sons-” He turned his head to you, Casey and April. “-and the rest of my family.”

“Just please don't try and eat my face anymore.” Casey said with a smile.

“So.” A deep dark voice spoke, startling the group. You all turned to see none other than the Shredder himself. “The turtles live. And the rat thinks like a man again. Now you will know when my blade is at your throat.”

Splinter was about to get read for a fight but his eldest son stopped him and he nodded, agreeing that now was not the time to fight. Then, Mikey threw a smoke bomb on the floor and you all made your escape. However, due to your injuries, you were too weak to run and Leo was the first to notice. So he picked you up bridal style and carried you to the party wagon where everyone was inside. Casey then drove off and just when you all thought you were safe, Tiger Claw appeared from the roof but he thankfully fell after his rear got a taste of fire. Finally, the group was safe and you were all out of the subway and in the streets of the city. You were sitting next to Leo who held you against him. He had never been this protective with you before and you had to admit; you liked it.

Mikey then wondered where they would live and Splinter said homes were transitory, but Leo pointed out they still needed a place to hang their masks. Mikey instantly had an idea. They decided to use Antonio’s Pizza-Rama as their hideout for the time being. It wasn’t the best place but it was enough for the time being. Coincidentally, you had already been here with Splinter when you were both surviving.

“Someone was here guys.” Raph pointed out, noticing scattered ashes that were once papers and sticks.

“That someone was me and Splinter.” You said and they all turned to look at you. “When we were just surviving, we jumped from building to building to hide and rest. This pizzeria happens to be one of them.”

“What happened to you, Y/N?” Mikey asked sadly, taking your hand in his and leading you to sit on the couch that was already conveniently in the store. He sat next to you, as did Leo on your other side.

You sighed. “I don’t even know where to begin… so much happened during these 4 months.” **(A/N: I headcanon that the turtles stayed a month in the farmhouse)**

“Start from when you sacrificed yourself.” Raph said and you nodded.

And so you told them everything; meeting your robot father, your consciousness being combined with Winter’s, Michael’s video, surviving with Splinter, losing Splinter and the worst part, the bone marrow extractions and other experiments. All while speaking, your voice wavered and tears rolled down your cheeks. Mikey and Leo held your hands and gently rubbed them to comfort you. The others looked at you with sadness in their eyes, upset to hear you had gone through so much trauma. Leo understood, to some level, the pain you were going through as he also experienced great physical pain when fighting the Foot clan and Shredder’s mutants. Hell, he had PTSD from it, he was sleep deprived even back in the farmhouse because of his constant nightmares.

“Y/N, mind if I check your wounds?” Donnie asked and you nodded, proceeding to shoo Mikey away so he could sit down on the couch next to you. You lifted your shirt and showed him all the entry points where Baxter had drilled. Donnie gulped and took in a shaky breath, he wasn’t used to seeing this much gore. “And you’re saying he… used a regular drill…?”

“Yeah…” You squeaked, feeling like crying again. “H-He just… kept drilling and drilling and drilling nonstop…”

“He didn’t even disinfect them…” Donnie mumbled. “Your wounds were hardly treated so they’re infected.”

“Is that why her skin’s all yellow and purple?” Mikey asked and Donnie nodded.

“Open wounds can get easily infected if not treated properly. Clearly, one of the reasons why you’re so weak and in so much pain is because they weren’t taken care of, not even rinsed! I swear, Stockman is gonna pay for this!” Donnie swore, clenching his fists.

“Donnie-” Leo started but Donnie cut him off.

“I know I know. We’ll deal with him once we take back the city. Y/N’s my priority at the moment.” Donnie then got up and held his hand out. “C’mon. I need to patch you up in the next room.”

“I’ll help.” Leo volunteered and Donnie nodded.

You took your purple-masked friend’s hand and got up on your feet. They each took one of your arms and wrapped them around their shoulders so they could carry you to the other room. Donnie then went to the party wagon and got his first aid kit before rushing back into the room, closing the door behind him whilst the others stared at it worriedly.

“You were with Y/N the whole time, right Sensei?” Mikey asked.

“Yes… We spent a few months together surviving in the streets.” Splinter replied. “Although my memories are hazy, I can still recall the moments we shared together.”

“It must’ve felt nicer to have someone by your side during an apocalypse.” April commented with a small smile and Splinter nodded.

“I was not in my right mind but I was able to recognize her and somewhat understand her.”

“Well, at least you’re back now and Y/N’s safe with us.” Raph said with his arms crossed. “Nothing’ll happen to her, not when we’re around.”

“Yeah! We’ll protect her!” Mikey declared. “Family always has each other’s backs!”

Raph chuckled and nodded. “I’m with ya on that, bro.”

The gang had found a temporary home for them to rest in during this invasion. More importantly, they had completed the first part of the plan which was to find you and Splinter. Next was to hunt Karai down.

That wouldn’t be easy, however, considering the Shredder was also after her. 


	28. Feelings Come Together

In the other room, Donnie sat you down on the chair and he readied his aid kit. He got out antiseptics and multiple gauzes, cotton pads and bandages. Leo was by your side, holding your hand as you nervously watched Donnie get ready.

“I’m gonna need you to take your shirt off.” Donnie said which made you and Leo’s eyes widen slightly. “Well yeah, I gotta see where else you’re hurt.”

“Makes sense…” You mumbled before wrapping your fingers around the hem of your shirt and taking it off, leaving you in your bra. Peering down at your body, you saw there were more bruises than what you had thought.

Donnie winced at the sight of all the damage but he took a deep breath to focus. The drill holes in your hips were infected and your skin around it changed colour and it only continued to spread further. You could barely recognise your own body at this point. With a heavy sigh, you gulped down the lump in your throat which Leo noticed and frowned at.

“Why can’t you heal, Y/N?” Leo asked.

“My powers are… gone.” You replied sadly.

“What?!” Donnie shrieked. “How?! Your powers are literally a part of you, it’s not something someone can take.”

“That’s also what I thought but… I haven’t been healing for weeks and even when I feel adrenaline, nothing happens.” You explained.

“That’s… impossible.” Donnie sighed, running a hand down his face in disbelief.

“I’m sorry…” You whispered. Leo, who was still holding your hand, rubbed his thumb against your skin which brought you comfort.

Soon enough, Donnie started his work on treating your wounds. Of course, he started with the holes as they were the most infected. He grabbed a pad, put some water on it and cleaned the area as it was covered in dried blood. Leo proceeded to do the same on your other hip, cleaning up all the blood. Once that was done, Donnie threw away all the bloody cotton pads and wiped his forehead. He grabbed another pad and poured a bit of antiseptic on it however before applying it on your wound, he looked up at you.

“This is gonna sting bad.” He warned. “If you can, avoid… y’know, screaming? So that we don’t get discovered by the Kraang.” You nodded. “Here I go.”

Just a small pat of the damp cotton against your open wound instantly stung and to prevent you from screaming, you put a hand over your mouth. Donnie patted gently again and it only hurt you more but he still kept going for the sake of your health. All the while, Donnie kept apologizing and his heart kept racing. Seeing you so hurt made him feel guilty. He still blamed himself for the invasion; if he had followed Leo’s orders from the start and evacuated the city then neither you, Splinter nor Leo would have been hurt. Your winces and hisses only kept reminding him that he did this to you. Leo noticed the guilty look on Donnie's face.

“Don.” Leo called. “It’s not your fault.”

Donnie didn’t answer which saddened the leader. Back in the farmhouse, the two had talked about what had happened and Donnie told him how he felt guilty. Leo didn’t understand why he would blame himself for something that he couldn’t have controlled. The genius turtle simply hummed, not really wanting to talk as he was focused on your wounds. Because your skin was infected, it made it twice as sensitive to outside factors touching it.

After disinfecting, he took out a needle and a thread and attached them together. He looked at you for permission and you nodded, shutting your eyes tightly so you wouldn’t have to see him stitching you up. The needle pierced your skin and as he pulled, the thread rubbed against your skin which was extremely painful.

“Ah!” You gasped, not being able to keep quiet from the pain you were feeling. Leo was quick to hold your hand and you squeezed it.

Donnie sewed the hole shut which was thankfully done quickly as to avoid making you suffer any longer. He used a cotton pad to apply antiseptic one more time before moving to your other side and doing the same thing. Antiseptic, sewing and antiseptic again which were all painful for you. Luckily, Leo was by your side the entire time, whispering comforting words to you as Donnie worked. Just holding Leo’s hand made the experience less agonizing.

Once he was done, Donnie wrapped your entire waist with gauze. You watched as his precise hands did its work, making sure not to hurt you more. The pain had died down but it still stung and you were still sore all over. You wondered why all of a sudden you were in so much pain and you guessed it was because you were safe now so your body just shut down. Prior to being saved, you were in pain, yes, but it was bearable and that was because of adrenaline - your entire body was optimized for survival. However, since you were safe, your body returned to its normal function and thus, the pain of your injuries were twice as strong. Without your powers, it would take you months to fully recover and that sucked. Nonetheless, you were just grateful to be safe with the turtles.

Finally, Donnie finished but he didn’t move away, his hands lingered on your injuries. Like Leo, it was hard for him to see you in this state. Donnie loved you, you were family and knowing that Baxter did something so horrible just made his blood boil. At the farmhouse, he was so sure you had died when you had jumped out of the van to save them. It was a miracle that you were alive. Suddenly, Donnie hugged you, burying his face in the crook of your neck, restraining himself from crying. Leo smiled sadly and walked away, leaving the room so you and Donnie could have a moment. You hugged him back, your hand behind his head and the other around the nape of his neck.

“I thought you died, Y/N… I’m so sorry…” Donnie spoke softly.

“What are you sorry for?” You asked.

“This is all my fault… If I listened to Leo and got us all out of the city before the attack, you wouldn’t be in this state… you wouldn’t have suffered and neither would’ve Leo.”

“Don’t blame yourself for this, D. None of this is your fault.” You cooed. “Have you really been carrying this guilt…?” Donnie nodded and there, you felt his tears on your neck. He was crying. “Oh Donnie…” You held him tighter and rubbed your thumb against his skin in circles, bringing comfort to him.

A few minutes had passed before he stopped crying and moved away from you. His eyes were tired and his cheeks were moist. Your hands made its way onto his face and your thumbs wiped some stray tears away. The turtle slightly smiled, appreciating your gesture.

“Go sleep with the others, you need it. Thanks for patching me up.” You said, smiling at him.

“No problem.”

With that, you put your shirt back on and he helped you on your feet with your arm around his shoulder. You grunted, feeling the sting from your wounds but nonetheless kept moving towards the door. Donnie opened it and helped you inside. Leo rushed to your side and picked up your other arm and the two of them sat you down on the couch, making sure to not step on anyone who was sleeping on the floor in their sleeping bags. The two brothers exchanged looks as if they were communicating using only their eyes. Leo gave a look as if asking Donnie was okay to which he replied with a nod and a small thumbs up. The leader smiled and patted his brother’s shoulder in comfort before sitting down on the couch next to you. The turtle in the purple mask walked to his sleeping bag, settled inside and went to sleep.

It was just you and Leo now.

“Aren’t you tired?” You asked, your eyes making contact with Leo’s.

“I’ve been asleep for 3 months, I’m pretty sure I’m caught up on sleep.” He replied with a scoff. “How’re you feeling?”

“Like shit.” You deadpanned, running a hand down your face. There was a pause, a moment of silence between the two of you.

“I uh…” Leo started, awkwardly shifting his view between you and the floor. “I missed you.”

Finally you gave in, you launched yourself at him and wrapped your weak arms around his neck. That sudden movement sent a striking pain in your body but you didn’t care, you just wanted to hug Leo. The turtle was taken aback but nonetheless hugged you back, making sure not to touch your wounds. He closed his eyes, feeling himself getting lost in the moment with you in his arms. God he missed you, he missed you so much and he was so relieved to finally hold you, to feel you. He felt whole again, as if you were two puzzle pieces that were finally brought together.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Leo. Thank you for saving me.” You spoke softly.

“I’ll save you as many times as I need to.” Leo replied, slightly tightening his grip around you, as if he was letting you know that he was here.

The both of you stayed like this; him laying down on the couch, his shell resting against the armchair, with you on top of him. He felt something he hadn’t felt in 4 months - peace. This was a feeling he always felt with you. Without you, he’d be a stressed out mess and frankly, he was, back at the farmhouse. He had hardly slept knowing the fact that you could have died. Well, that didn’t matter now. All that mattered was that you were here with him. The position was comfortable for the two of you, so much that soon enough, you both fell asleep.

The next day, Leo, Raph and Casey had gone out to get some supplied from the lair. A large hole was on the ground in the room where Donnie was working on a retro-mutagen as well as a medicine that could help you heal faster or even better, bring your powers back. Splinter, April and Mikey were cleaning up the place. You were just laying down on the couch, closing your eyes so you could stop focusing on the pain in your sides. Donnie had just applied a new coat of antibacterial and changed your gauze so you felt freshly sore once more. A few seconds later, Mikey noticed Splinter’s sad expression and Splinter only replied that his thoughts were elsewhere but you knew better; he was worried for his two sons and Casey as well as Karai.

Just then, Leo, Raph and Casey returned from their stealth mission and they had a few boxes in their hands. They had gotten some chemicals for Donnie’s experiments, a TV for Mikey and Splinter’s family picture. As he looked at it, the turtles’ sensei remarked that his family couldn’t be complete without his daughter with him. Everyone resolved to find her, and when Raph mentioned that she might have been captured by the Foot or the Kraang, Splinter said he saw her on the streets recently, but he had not been in his right mind at the time and couldn't have helped her. The turtles were ready to start the search now, though Leo told you, April and Casey to stay behind. Although Casey and April were mad, you didn’t object.

Hours passed and it was silent, with the occasional coughs, sniffs and sighs. There wasn't much to do; the electricity was kept at a very low voltage as to avoid using it all up. Splinter was meditating, April was reading a magazine she had found and Casey was hitting his head against the wall out of boredom. Then, Splinter approached you and you sat up straight so he could sit next to you.

“I would like to thank you for taking care of me when I was… not myself.” Splinter said, looking at you.

“No probs. Having you by my side, even when you couldn’t talk, kept me sane.” You explained with a smile. “Do you uh… remember the things I said?”

“I remember.”

Shit. You thought to yourself.

Splinter chuckled at your change of expression. “Do not fret Y/N, I am not judging.”

“Uhm… about Leo-”

“You are right.” He cut you off, earning a confused look from you. “That is what I felt for Shen. I loved her very much… Y/N, you and Leonardo have a special bond, a bond that is strong and lasts a lifetime. Do not let this wither away. You were meant for each other.”

No words came out of your mouth when he said that. Splinter thought you and Leo were meant for each other. You had been afraid of admitting to him that you were in love with his son, you thought he was going to be strict and not allow you to date his son because reasons. However you were wrong, if anything he encouraged you! It warmed your heart and it only made you more confident. You knew there was something going on between you and Leo, you couldn’t quite put it into words but what you had with him was definitely more than friendship.

Maybe you could take it a step further?

However, you were afraid. What if your bond was merily familial? You and the other brothers also had a strong bond, who was to say Leo felt the same way? Oh God the last thing you would want to hear is him saying: “you’re like a sister to me.” That would just crush you. Much like Donnie, Mikey and Raph, you hugged him, confided to him and fought alongside him. You also kissed Donnie’s and Mikey’s foreheads a few times, not to mention you told Mikey you loved him like a brother.

“Aargh but what if he thinks of me as a sister? I love the turtles, God, I love them so much. I’ve shown affection to them too! What if he thinks that I see him as a brother?” You panicked which Splinter once again chuckled at. He put a hand on your shoulder to calm you down.

“I’ve seen you both interact and believe me, it is not that.”

You nodded at him, your nervousness dying down. He just had this aura and voice that calmed you down, much like his eldest son. Speaking of voice, you couldn’t stop thinking of Leo’s deep raspy one, especially when he had whispered sweet nothings to calm you down when Donnie had treated your wounds. It was weird at first but then you got used to it and now it’s all you wanted to hear. A smile made its way onto your lips and you thanked Splinter for his wise words. He sure had a way with words, huh?

Later, the turtles came back and they looked broken, especially Leo. He told the news to his father - they lost Karai. However, before she had left, she had given them a clue, a word precisely; “comet”. Splinter turned away, mumbling that they did what they could. Leo wasn’t giving up, he swore that he would do everything he could to save her and bring her back. He had hope, he was determined, it was some of his traits that you adored. Then, Donnie went back to his makeshift lab in the other room, Mikey went to the kitchen area to prepare some pizza, Raph sat down on the couch and Leo just looked out the window defeated. Wanting to be there for him, you stood up from your lying position, wincing at the pain. Raph was about to set you down but you gave him a look which made him step aside. You walked over to Leo and placed a hand on his broad shoulder, gaining his attention. He turned his head to you and sighed sadly, wrapping one arm around your shoulders before looking out again.

“You should’ve seen her, Y/N… She was so scared.” He described sadly. “The mutagen is affecting her mind, she’s losing control. Hell, she can barely recognise us. I feel so bad for her… I just wish I could help her…”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” You said, placing your hand over his.

“I’m not giving up on her. We’ll bring her back and Donnie’ll cure her.” He said in a determined tone which sent shivers down your spine. There was a pause before he grabbed something from his belt. “I almost forgot to give you this.” He placed the item on your hand and it was revealed to be a silver necklace that had a silver turtle with a blue diamond attached to the bottom. “I found it when we were scouring the city to look for Karai. Since I couldn’t find anything at the lair, I thought I’d give it to you. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Leo…” You gasped with a smile, gazing at the beautiful gift. “I-I love it! Thank you!” You hugged him.

Leo chuckled and hugged you back before going behind you and clipping the two ends of the necklace together. You turned around to look at him in his eyes and for a moment, the world around you disappeared - it was just you and Leo. Time had stopped, no one was around and there was no sound, just two beating hearts synchronized as one. Slowly, you both leaned in, eyes switching between each other’s eyes and lips, as if asking each other for permission. His breath was on your lips and your lips were just about to touch-

“Pizza’s ready!” Mikey called from the kitchen.

Snapped out of the trance, you both pulled away quickly, embarrassed by what just had happened. He stuttered awkwardly before moving away from you to join the others on the table. Raph smirked at Leo and the leader just blushed.

_Hell no this ain’t no cliche fanfiction._

“Hey!” You called, marching over to Leo who turned to you.

And just like that, you grabbed his cheeks and smashed your lips onto his. 


	29. Battle to New York

_Oh my God I can’t believe I did that but I’m so glad I did._

Currently, you were laying down on the couch and looking up at the ceiling. The others, except for Splinter, had gone out to search for Karai who had given them a clue on where she was hiding out. You were asleep when they left so you didn’t get the chance to wish them the best. You hoped Karai would come in through the door with the others, at least Splinter and Leo would be happy to finally have her back.

Speaking of Leo…

A beautiful relationship had finally started.

He was awkward at first, since you had surprised him, but then he had recovered and kissed you back just as forcibly. Just through that kiss, he had told you that he loved you. You were happy, despite your body being sore 24/7. Pinning on him for an entire year and surviving an alien apocalypse was worth it in the end.

Splinter was meditating whilst waiting for his family to come back. Every 4 hours, however, he was instructed by Dr. Donatello to change your bandages and apply antibacterials. It was kind of weird at first since you had to be shirtless in front of your father figure but eventually you got used to it. While the turtles were out, you and Splinter had taken the time to get closer. You were both already pretty close since you had both lived through 4 agonizing months of the invasion together. But it didn’t hurt to get closer. Splinter considered you to be his own child at this point and god damn it you loved him. He was proud of you for making the move since he knew his son was too polite to even dare to kiss you without asking for consent. Even then, Leo would’ve been too awkward and shy. It was one of the things that made him adorable to you.

Later during the day… or night…? You couldn’t really tell due to how dark it was outside. The turtles had come back and they looked beaten up. They explained to you that they had been attacked by Anton Zeck and Ivan Steranko, now renamed Beebop and Rocksteady by Mikey. Leo looked the most hurt - emotionally hurt. The moment he entered the pizzeria, he hugged you tightly and buried his face on the crook of your neck, sighing heavily. You looked around and you realised why he was like this; Karai wasn’t with them. Raph explained that she didn’t want to be saved, that she was too scared of hurting her family and she decided to run away. Hearing the news broke your heart. Karai didn’t deserve this, she deserved to be with her father. Looking behind, you saw Splinter’s broken look. He had lost his daughter again, after finally finding her.

Then, Donnie called you, telling you to follow him in his make-shift lab to change your bandages. Leo let go of you and you kissed his cheek before following the genius turtle to the other room. Once inside, you sat down on the chair and took your shirt off. Looking down at your body, you saw that it still hadn’t changed - the same bruises were everywhere and your skin colour wasn’t entirely back yet, instead it was a mix of blue, yellow, purple and brown, much to your disappointment. You noticed that some blood had leaked out of the stitches that Splinter had changed about 5 hours ago.

“How am I still bleeding this much?” You asked.

“Bone marrows are where there’s the highest blood concentration. Naturally it’ll bleed a lot if it’s forcibly opened.” Donnie explained, getting his first aid kit out.

“Oh…” Was all you said. There was a pause before you spoke again. “How’re you holding up? I heard what happened to Karai.”

Donnie sighed. “I couldn’t turn her back. Her condition is special, she isn’t your every-day mutant, she can switch between mutant and human.”

“Woah, I didn’t know that.” You responded. “You’ll figure something out, you always do.”

“Not this time, Y/N…” He muttered which made you frown. “We don’t know what’s gonna happen to her now.”

You didn’t know what to respond to that, and so you just sank into the chair and looked away from him. He understood your lack of response, there wasn’t much to say. It was what it was. Karai was on her own now and all any of you could do now was hope that she was going to be okay. Minutes go by in silence as your personal doctor patched you up once more, making your wounds feel sore again. When he finished, he helped you back in the main room where everyone was either sleeping or sulking. It was such a sad sight; the gang, who used to be so full of light and fun, with frowns on their faces. But what could you do? You weren’t too positive either.

A few days had passed before something suddenly happened. Mikey was in Donnie's lab trying to make Plutonium for retro mutagen by stuffing different things in it. When Donnie saw what Mikey was doing to the retro mutagen, he was enraged. He tried to stop his brother, but one drop of it fell in the retro mutagen, which started to bubble and foam; it looked like it would explode, but instead it sparkled. Donnie angrily tackled Mikey and the two tussled until Splinter came and pressure pointed both of them, demanding to know what was going on. Donnie scanned the mutant cells and revealed that Mikey's Plutonium perfected the retromutagen. Also it took a drop of it to change a whole canister of regular mutagen into retro mutagen. Donnie asked what he had done but Mikey only remembered using pizza, urinade, analite, and muronic acid. Donnie wasn’t happy to hear that but Master Splinter said that Mikey's tomfoolery had made something that could save New York City, but April pointed out that they were in Dimension X due to the dreams she had.

The turtles planned to go to the TCRI, use their dimensional portal to enter Dimension X, and save the people. Donnie told them about an invention that could save New York, but it turned out to be a water tower. The other brothers weren’t impressed but just as he was about to explain, a Kraang Stealth Ship appeared causing the turtles to hide. Turned out, they were still looking for humans and when they did find a couple, the turtles thankfully saved them, despite them running away in fear. Unfortunately, the turtles were surrounded and just when they thought they were going to get captured, they were aided by Slash and his new team; the Mighty Mutanimals. The group brought the turtles to their lair and the latter were surprised to see Jack Kurtzman alive and well. A proposal was made for the two teams to work together but they didn’t agree and that sparked an argument. Leo didn’t like Slash for an obvious reason; he tried to kill him and his brothers. Raph just thought Pigeon Pete was useless and Donnie didn’t appreciate Rockwell’s attitude. Mikey and Leatherhead were the only ones who were friends. However, their argument was cut short when the Kraang attacked and in the midst of the fight, Kurtzman got shot.

Back at the pizzeria, the turtles and Mutanimals came in a rush and placed the injured man on the couch. Instantly, you recognised Slash from your previous encounter with him.

~~~

_“You okay?” Slash’s soft voice asked with his hand out. “They nearly killed ya.”_

_“Yeah… thanks for the help.” You huffed, taking his large hand in yours. He helped you up on your feet. “Wait, you’re Slash right? Raph’s old pet turtle who mutated and tried to kill his brothers?”_

_He paled but nodded. “I-I didn’t mean it! It was the mutagen… I swear I’m different now.”_

_“Considering you saved me, I believe you.” Before you could say anything else, more Kraang appeared._

_“Go! I’ll keep’em busy!” Slash said and you nodded, sprinting away from the scene while the big turtle bashed the droids with his weapon._

~~~

“Slash.” You spoke, acknowledging his presence. That was when he finally noticed you.

“It’s you again.”

“You two know each other?” Leo asked with a hint of caution in his voice, walking to your side.

“Yeah, he saved me when I was about to get clobbered by a bunch of Kraang droids.” You answered, smiling at the large turtle which only made Leo feel even more wary of Slash.

“Y/N, you’re alive…” A weak voice spoke which gained your attention. “Thank God.”

“Somehow I am.” You shrugged and he nodded before turning his attention back to the two leaders. “All the intel I have on this Kraang missile is on this drive. You and the Turtles have to work together.”

“I don't think that's a good idea.” Leo retorted.

“We agree on that much.” Slash agreed, glaring at the leader in blue.

Whatever problem is between you, you both have a common purpose. We're running out of time…” Jack then passed out.

Splinter checked his pulse and he was thankfully still alive. Casey took on the task to get some medical supplies from the pharmacy. The wise rat man told his sons and the Mutanimals to work together to stop the missile launch, much to their dismay. When they went to the lab, you followed but stayed at the door frame, just watching the boys. An argument sparked again and the Mutanimals left through the underground exit. You were disappointed but it was bound to happen. Soon, the turtles created a plan and Donnie led his brothers to his latest invention. Just as they were about to leave, you grabbed Leo’s hand and pulled him back. He looked at you questionably but you hugged him.

“Give him a chance, Leo. He’s changed.” You said, pulling away from him.

“Are you kidding me? No way. He nearly killed us!” Leo argued, making sure to keep his voice low.

“I know. He knows that too, and he regrets that. He said it himself - it was the mutagen, he wasn’t in his right mind.”

“But-”

“Leo.” You pulled his head down, smashing your lips on his for a brief second before pulling away from him. “Trust me.”

“C’mon Leo, we gotta go.” Raph interrupted, dragging his older brother away from you. Leo looked back at you and hesitantly nodded before exiting the pizzeria.

Donnie took the Turtles to the water tower only to reveal that it is Donnie's new invention, the Turtle Blimp.

Meanwhile, at the missile site, Kraang Subprime asked why it was taking so long, and the Kraang stated that most of the perfected mutagen supply had been used in the Invasion. Suddenly the Mutanimals arrived and attacked the Kraang. Thankfully, the Mutanimals attack was the perfect distraction for the turtles as they jumped on the top of the large missile. Despite their best efforts, Kraang Subprime was able to launch the missile. Even whilst being pulled in the air, Donnie managed to reset its coordinates to the heart of the sun, and they fell but used their gliders to get to safety. While Pete was celebrating their victory, the Irma-head came to life and tried to shoot Pete until Slash destroyed it. Kraang Subprime ordered his troops to retreat and they escaped. Both teams celebrated their victory. Leo was watching Slash the whole time, and was impressed by Slash's bravery and sticking up for his teammates.

Now it was time for the second part of the plan - save the people in Dimension X. The plan was simple: the Mutanimals open the portal in TCRI, the turtles in the turtle blimp go into Dimension X, they find the people, turn them back and then teleport them back to Earth.

Simple right?

I d i o t s.

Either way, they did it. Kraang Subprime nearly sliced and diced the turtles but they eventually did it. The Mutanimals also nearly fluked it but they managed in the end and helped save the city. Power and electricity surged back, Kraang droids and ship disappeared and people came back. The sound of cheering woke you up and you looked around to see April, Casey and Splinter stare outside. Joining them, your eyes scanned the street and you were moved. There they were, people, humans, all back and happily celebrating the day the city of New York was saved.

April and Casey helped you outside and the moment your body exited the door, the atmosphere felt lighter. Everything was different. Tears rolled down your cheeks, it was finally over, you felt so relieved. Then it only got better, there on the street, you saw Michael and Jeremy. Gathering all your strength, you ran to them as fast as your weak legs could.

“MICHAEL!! JEREMY!!” You screamed which gained their attention.

“Y/N!!” The two yelled back, meeting you halfway and your three bodies clashed, arms wrapped around each other, tears falling and loud crying.

Finally, it was over.

Leo watched you from the rooftop and smiled.


	30. The Noxious Avenger

“Start from the beginning.”

“My friends and I were going to escape but we were surrounded… I jumped out and lured the droids away so they could escape… The droids fired at me and I… I saw my life flash before my eyes. I died but… somehow someone saved me.”

“You think you died.”

“I know I died.”

The room was silent and the two people looked at the ground. It was you and the community councilor, Dr. Rosewind. It had been weeks since the invasion ended and the city was in shambles; there was so much to destroy and rebuild, so many people in hospitals and even more with long-lasting trauma. During these weeks, a community center was created for survivors. One woman, Dr. Rosewind, wanted to help them and organised therapy sessions for the community. She was a survivor herself. It was your turn to tell her everything - or well, almost everything. It was nice of her to do this for people like you and best of all, it was free. At least for now until the economy would become stable again.

“You’re not being completely honest with me Y/N.” She spoke softly. “What really happened?”

You sighed. “...I had powers, cryogenic ones. I was born with them and they only started developing in my early teens. I used to be scared of them but I got control… When I sacrificed myself, my human consciousness died and was taken over by my alter-ego that I call Winter. She’s this other consciousness that lived in my brain as a result of my powers, she protected my body. But then… someone stopped her and managed to bring me back to life. That someone was… my father, the man whom I believed was dead for a decade. Part of me hates him for helping the enemy but… I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for him.”

“That’s heavy.” She paused. “These powers of yours… can you demonstrate them?”

“I um…” You sighed again. “I lost them. During the invasion, a group of sick weirdos experimented on me and took them away. Otherwise I would’ve physically healed by now. 'Cause y’know, I had a fast healing factor.”

“How do you feel about that? Losing your powers?”

“I…” Words wouldn’t come out at the moment. You didn’t really know how to feel. “It’s weird. Every time I feel the adrenaline rush, I expect them to come out but… nothing happens. I guess I kinda feel like a part of me is missing.” You scoffed. “I remember a time when I just wanted to get rid of them but know I’d do anything to get them back.”

Dr. Rosewind hummed and nodded before proceeding to write down notes in her notepad. It was silent again. No words were exchanged. Just the sound of pencil on paper was heard. It was kind of awkward, you never thought therapy would be this awkward.

“Well Y/N, it seems we have run out of time.”

“What’s your verdict?”

“I’d say… you’re strong, Y/N, I’m amazed you’re still functioning after all you’ve been through.” She paused. “Are the nightmares still frequent?”

Ah, the nightmares. None of the turtles knew about them, not even Leo who was your boyfriend now. You didn’t want to trouble them, they had just saved the city, you didn’t want to burden them. Every night, it would be the same dream - you back in that cell being drilled at different spots until you eventually die. Sometimes the dreams were so violent that you’d wake up feeling pain in the same spots Stockman had drilled in. It was horrible. Maybe it was time to tell Leo, he’d find ways to help, he always did. You nodded in response and she nodded back. Then, you left and let the other person in who looked in a much worse state than you.

It was late at night, the perfect time for the turtles to patrol and watch over the city. You admired them; even after a traumatic experience like the invasion, they were still on their feet. Suddenly, you heard a loud scream and felt a gush of wind. Growing curious, you peeked around the corner to see a large, green and gooey mutant with a hole in its stomach. Around him was a tornado of garbage bags. When he stopped screaming, the tornado disappeared and the bags were scattered everywhere. What was even weirder was what happened next - his eyeball fell out on his hand and it talked. You’d seen weird mutants, but this was next level weird. You were only able to hear so much; all you picked up was the eyeball, who was called Joe, telling the mutant that he was a superhero. Nearby, there was a cry for help from a helpless man and the mutant followed. Of course, you were right behind him to watch. In the crime scene, the Purple Dragons were mugging a man and the mutant came up behind the group and beat the shit out of them. It was fun to watch. However, a woman witnessed it and screamed upon seeing the mutated creature. Surprisingly, the man whom the mutant had just saved reassured her and called the mutant a hero. Now this got interesting.

Soon enough, the news broke out. You had left the scene long before the camera crew had arrived and you were on your way to the lair. When you arrived, you saw they were watching TV and there on the screen was the mutant or as they were calling him, ’Muckman’.

“Wow the news flies faster than I thought.” You commented, walking over to the couch.

“You saw him before?” Leo asked, holding his hand out for you so he could help you sit down. You took his hand and sat down next to him.

“Yeah, I just saw him beat up the Purple Dragons. I thought he was just a guy looking out for the city like you guys but…” You took a closer look at Muckman’s face through the TV. “He doesn’t look like he’s enjoying this.”

“Hmm, I bet he's one of Stockman-Fly's experiments gone awry.” Donnie suggested.

“I say we find this guy and, assuming we can tell his butt from his face, kick it.” Raph said, punching his palm with a smirk.

“Y/N just said he stopped a mugging, he could be on our side.” Leo retorted.

“What if Shredder wants the Reagent-X to control Muckman?” Donnie added in a more worried tone.

“Like I said: Find butt, then kick it.” Raph continued which made you facepalm.

Leo sighed before getting up. “Let’s go check it out.” He looked over at April. “You coming?”

“Totally.” She replied and Leo nodded before turning over to you.

“Stay here until we get back, okay?” He spoke softly.

“Leo, I uh… I actually need to talk to you about something.” You admitted, earning a concerned look from Leo.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah I just- Look can we go to your room?”

Leo turned to his brothers. “You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up later.” The boys and April nodded and the two of you went to his room. He wrapped his fingers around your hands, bringing warmth to them. “What’s wrong?”

You couldn’t help but smile slightly, you loved how caring he was of you. “I can’t sleep at night, Leo. I… I get nightmares. Some are worse than others but it stops me from getting some sleep and I can’t take it anymore. I just wanna sleep…”

“How often do you get them?” He asked, bringing your body closer to his until your chests touched.

“Every night.”

Leo sighed and kissed your forehead. “I get them too.”

You looked up at him. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Especially after I woke up. I would wake up in the middle of the night sweating like crazy and then I wouldn’t sleep. Even now, they still happen.”

“How do you bear with it all?”

“I just… do. Y’know as a leader you kinda have to just… deal with it and keep going.”

“I want them to stop.” You said and then let out a yawn. “Is it okay if… If you and I sleep together? I know it’s early in our relationship-”

“No no it’s okay.” He interrupted you, lifting your chin with his index finger. “I don’t mind. I think it’ll help us both.”

You smiled and went to your tippy toes to kiss him. He returned the kiss with more passion, like he was pouring all of his love into it. However due to the time constraint, you both had to part. “Now go be a hero.”

Leo smirked before pecking your lips and exiting his dark room, closing the door behind him. You sat down on his bed, looking over every item he had. It was crazy to think that the guy you had been pinning on for the past year was now your boyfriend. Damn you were one lucky bitch.

Meanwhile with the turtles and April, they watched Muckman run away from the fan club and reporters that were following him. Raph commented that he was guilty but April argued that he was scared and wanted to stay hidden in the shadows like the turtles. They all followed and ambushed him however the mutated man retaliated with a garbage tornado and sludge puke, knocking them down before fleeing from reporters and fans. April warned the turtles to leave fast and Mikey threw down a smoke bomb - but not before Joan caught a silhouette of the turtles.

In the lair, the boys all took their showers and sat down in front of the TV with towels wrapped around their necks. Their eyes were red and their noses were running. All the commotion made you wake up and come out of Leo’s room.

“Oh my God what happened?” You asked worryingly at the sight of the boys.

“Muckman happened.” Raph replied with a huff.

“And that’s not all.” Donnie added before turning his head back to the TV where Joan showed a picture of the turtle’s silhouettes behind the smoke bomb. Splinter, who was right behind his sons, grew furious.

“How could you all be so careless?” He scolded, raising his tone. “Secrecy is the most important rule of the ninja, and you have broken it. You four are forbidden from leaving the lair!”

“What?!” Raph shrieked. “You can't hold that sloppy escape against us. We got slimed with toxic puke!”

“Silence!”

“But sensei, if that pile of muck took us down, you know he's dangerous.” Donnie spoke.

“Which means we need to be out there looking for him.” Leo added.

“No. Until I decide I can trust you to watch yourselves, you will remain here, grounded!”

“Aww…” The turtles groaned.

“Aw, yeah. Crognard marathon.” Mikey squealed softly, moving towards the TV screen but he was interrupted when Splinter threw his staff at it, breaking the screen.

“And no TV!”

_Woah, better not get on his bad side._ You told yourself.

Much later, the turtles stayed in Mikey’s room, with Donnie running some tests on Muckman’s toxic vomit. He concluded that whatever garbage Muckman mutated with directly affected the turtle’s DNAs. Then, Mikey was about to watch his favourite series but Splinter busted into the room and took the TV and cassettes away. Donnie used his tPhone to watch the news and it wasn’t good for them. Soon after, you and April came back with the newspaper, saying that Muckman was actually a good guy. Leo then stood up and puffed out his chest, saying that they were going to prove to their master by sneaking out of the lair.

And so they did. But Splinter was too fast and managed to stop them. Thankfully, April purposefully hung off the ceiling and let her body fall towards the ground. Splinter saved her and was about to question how she got up there but he realised that the redhead did that to distract him so the turtles could make their exit. You had watched from the side, not wanting to move too much due to your injuries that were still painful as fuck.

Meanwhile, Bebop and Rocksteady were looking for Muckman, who, when found, attacked them until they told him that they were his side. He was led to believe that they had been mutated by the turtles and agreed to help them get the chemical they needed, thinking that it was a cure. The turtles arrived and Muckman attacked them with Rocksteady and Bebop. Joe continued urging Muckman to do the right thing and the turtles agreed with him. Then, having enough, Bebop hit everyone with a flash bang grenade and Rocksteady threw Muckman into the Kraang lab. The confused mutant found the chemical and took it before being hit by the Kraang security system, knocking him out. Rocksteady took the chemical from him as the turtles rushed in. Muckman retaliated against Bebop and Rocksteady by puking on them, which in turn destroyed the chemical. As the two retreated, Joe urged Muckman to do what was right so he apologized to the turtles for accusing them of any wrong doings. However, the moment was cut short when the gang spotted Joan and her cameraman searching the warehouse and Muckman distracted her while the turtles escaped.

Back in the lair at the dojo, Splinter was not happy with the Turtles for leaving the lair. Leo explained to Splinter that everything was fixed and showed him footage of a news bulletin. In the news, Muckman explained the turtle mutants did not exist and were probably just some kids in costumes to the media. The turtles sighed in relief that their identity was still a secret to the world. Splinter was not buying it, however. The turtles were still in hot water, and Splinter knocked all of them out with one hit. April, who was present during the whole thing, secretly tried to escape but Splinter appeared startling her right at the spot. It was probably her turn to get punished. You were just on the side, watching the scene with an amused smile. It was fun for you, even though the boys glared at you for making fun of their pain.

Later in the night, everyone was tired and headed off to bed. April had gone home, knowing that you were staying in the lair. You walked to Leo’s room and lied down, careful not to hurt yourself. Leo came in shortly after with a towel around his neck. The scent of blossoms made you smile and made your nose happy.

“You smell really nice. Way better than garbage.” You commented in a cheeky tone.

“Very funny.” Leo replied, rolling his eyes.

“I’m glad the whole situation is over. I wouldn’t wanna date a child-eating monster.” You teased, lightly punching his arm when he sat down on the bed next to your laying body.

“Yeah, talk about a close-call.” Leo sighed in relief, putting the towel away and finally laying down, resting his head against the soft pillow. The bed was small so you were both kind of squished together but it was thankfully comfortable. “We’re still grounded though, total bummer.”

“At least you’ll be stuck with me.”

“Oh God please let me out.”

“Asshole!” You punched his shoulder a bit harder this time which made him chuckle. Resting your head against his plastron and entangling your legs with his, you listened to his steady heartbeat. “Y’know, sometimes I can’t help but think this isn’t real.” Your fingers grazed his chest, running over the multiple scratches. “You being here with your brothers. It feels surreal… I never thought I would get this again. What if it’s all a simulation? What if my body is still in that lab and Stockman is behind the screens, monitoring everything?”

“Y/N, this is all real. I’m here - we all are. You’re safe now.” Leo softly reassured, running his fingers through your hair. “You’re not in that lab anymore. Neither Stockman nor Shredder can lay a finger on you. Not when you’re with me.”

“Thank you…” You whispered before looking up at him. “I love you, Leo.”

His heart instantly fluttered and he couldn’t resist smiling. Hearing those words from your mouth always made him turn into goop. Never did he think he would get a girlfriend because of his mutant form but then you came along and changed his life. He found someone to love, to protect and to fight for. He loved his family and would literally die for them but the love he felt for you was different - it was so strong that it scared him. Who thought loving someone so much would be scary? Not him. This was his first time dating a human girl - er well, partially human. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I love you too, always.” Leo whispered back, kissing your cheek before nuzzling his face in your hair, feeling sleepy.

Tiredness washed over you and you both passed out in each other’s arms. 


	31. Clash of the Mutanimals

It had been weeks since the invasion and the city was still far from complete recovery - buildings needed to be rebuilt, some neighborhoods needed their electricity back, people needed their jobs etc. There was a lot needed to be done in order for things to go back to normal. It was a gradual and slow process but eventually it’ll get there. It was amazing how humanity could thrive even after such a horrific event. Everyday, there would be at least 2 or 3 people found by the police and they still had thousands more to find. The survivor community was growing stronger each passing day and you were proud to be part of it.

Speaking of you, you were currently laying on Leo’s lap whilst he was reading his comic. It was a calm night - aside from Raph mercilessly hitting the training dummy that had Shredder’s picture attached to the head. Mikey, who was watching TV, pointed out the fact that the cartoon shows that the turtles watch, somehow related to their missions in real life. Leo quickly dismissed it as reading too much into a cartoon show. Raph heard all this while punching his training dummy and said that their next mission should be taking out the Shredder. Leo teased the fact that their brother was overreacting, leading the hot tempered turtle to yell at him which caused you to cringe at the sudden burst. Donnie, who was in the lab and had finished repairing the Shellraiser, heard a loud crash, drawing him outside.

Suddenly, Leatherhead came in rushing to the lair and then fell on his knees weakly. Worried, the lot of you got up and went to him.

“Are you okay?” Leo asked.

“Can't you see he's terrible? Look at his adorable yet tortured gator face.” Mikey replied.

“Michelangelo is right. I bring dire news. Slash and Rockwell have been captured by Tiger Claw.” Leatherhead explained.

“What? Why?” Leo asked again.

“He said they could be of use to "him."”

“I'll give you one guess who "him" is.” Raph spoke with his arms crossed.

“Yeah, that guy who does the thing with the thing.” Mikey paused before slumping his shoulders. “I have no idea who you're talking about.”

“Shredder.” You replied, subconsciously hugging yourself. Leo noticed and protectively wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you closer to his side.

Just then Pigeon Pete flew in, slamming against the pillar. Pete started looking around the lair in awe, saying that the only thing it was missing was bread. Mikey told him that they had something better than bread; pizza crusts. Pete tried it, and he instantly loved it. Raph complained as to why Tiger Claw hadn't taken Pete instead, given the bird's annoying nature. Leo reminded Raph that he was still not in very good terms with Slash either, but they were still their friends and that they would rescue them. As they prepared to leave, you gave Leo a good luck kiss. The mission was actually cut short as when the team were about to sneak inside, Rockwell and Slash exited the building followed by a group of Footbots. The turtles came in and destroyed the robots, saving the weakened duo. Donnie took a brief look at them and suggested that they bring them home as they didn’t look very good.

In the lair, you were waiting and were suddenly surprised by the team coming back. Splinter also came into the living room with some soup for the victims. Raph expressed his relief that both Slash and Rockwell were alright, but Mikey suspected that something was off about them. Rockwell confirmed his suspicions by remembering that he and Slash had been experimented on by Shredder. Slash explained about the worms, but never got a chance to say anything more before he had a headache. Splinter was about to get some water when Slash suddenly knocked him to the ground hard.

“Splinter!” Raph called.

“What the fuck?!” You yelled, backing up from the now deranged mutant. He was going to attack you but Raph and Leo blocked him.

They both pushed him away from you. As Raph and Mikey took care of Slash, both Leo and Donnie checked up on Splinter however they didn’t get the chance to as the moment they got close to him, both of them got lifted from the ground by Rockwell's psychic powers. Looking at the two victims, both of their eyes were completely white, their pupils had disappeared. Whilst the turtles fought Rockwell and Slash, you sneaked over to Splinter to check up on him.

“Are you okay? How bad is it?” You asked worriedly.

“I’ll be… fine. You must leave here to a safer place, Y/N.” Splinter replied softly before passing out.

Hesitantly, you started making your way out until Slash picked you up by your arm, hanging you in the air. You looked around only to see that the turtles had all passed out.

“Hey lemme go!” You squirmed, trying to get out of his grasp.

“Rockwell, is this the girl Stockman is looking for?” Slash asked Rockwell who got uncomfortably close to you and held your head. He used his psychic powers to analyse you of sorts.

“Yes. She is the one.”

“Let her go!” A new voice interrupted and you twisted your head to see Raph standing with his sais in his hands, ready to kick ass.

“Shredder desires one of the turtles.” Slash spoke again, still holding you by your arm.

“I volunteer to go kick his butt right after I kick yours!” Raph said as he launched towards the larger turtle.

However, Slash threw powder at him which made him pass out. You yelled his name whilst continuously trying to get out of Slash’s grip. Before you could do anything else, Rockwell used a psychic attack which instantly made you pass out. The brainwashed mutants made their escape through the lab door with you and Raph’s unconscious bodies. They took the party wagon and drove away with the turtles tailing right behind him. Unfortunately for the turtles, oil was purposefully spilled from the party wagon which made the vehicle slip off the road and crash. As Slash and Rockwell had gotten away, Donnie mentioned that they at least knew where they were heading and Leo admitted that now they had to do what Raph had wanted after all; take the fight to Shredder.

In Baxter’s lab, Raph woke up to find himself strapped down on a table, both Rockwell and Slash standing next to him.

“NO NO NO!! LET ME GO!! NOT AGAIN NOT AGAIN!!” A scream caught his attention but it wasn’t just any scream, it was yours.

“Y/N!” Raph called and you turned your head so your eyes met.

“Raph…” You cried, tears streaming down your face. “Help me… please…”

“I-I can’t move!” He grunted, trying to set himself free. He looked at his two mind-controlled friends. “Slash, Rockwell, snap out of it!”

“It'zzz no uzzze. With my mind control zzzerum courzzzing through their brainzzz, resistanzzze is futile.” Stockman spoke in a menacing tone while Tiger Claw cleaned his sword behind.

“I'm really lousy at taking orders. Ask Leo!” Raph spat.

“We'll zzzee.” He chuckled evilly before turning his head to you. “I wazzzn’t finished with you.”

“What more do you want from me?! You already took away my powers and my ability to sleep!” You screamed again, squirming around.

“Give her a break! It’s me that you want!” Raph barked.

The red-masked turtle tried to break free just as Baxter took out another one of the Mind-Worms and brought it close to Raph’s face whilst his head was being held down by Slash. The worm was placed right in between Raph's eyes before drilling its way into his head, making Raph scream in agonizing pain.

“NO!! RAPH!!” You yelled and sobbed, feeling scared and alone. “STOP THIS!!”

“Now it’zzz your turn.”

**“NOOOO!!!!”**

As Leo commanded the remaining turtles and Mutanimals to barge into Shredder's lair without a plan, Raph was thrown into a room where Shredder awaited him. Excited to fight him, Raph tried to attack Shredder, only to stop due to the mind-control serum now streaming into him. Shredder ordered Raph to attack him, and told him to stop once Raph was just about to launch the killing blow to him. That was when the others showed up and Leo told Raph to finish Shredder off. But to their horror, they discovered that Raph was now fully under Shredder's control along with Rockwell and Slash. Raph walked up to a giant skull on the wall, placed his hands into the eye holes, and withdrew it back, now armed with another set of the Shredder's gauntlets. Leo went in to attack Shredder, but was blocked by Raph. The leader told him to snap out of it and that Shredder was the enemy but Raph just took a fighting stance and said that he was the enemy before charging towards him. Shredder watched the fighting as Slash, Rockwell, Baxter and Tiger Claw went up against one of the remaining four mutants; Slash against Leatherhead, Baxter against Pete, Rockwell against Donnie, and Tiger Claw against Mikey. Leo kept trying to get through to Raph until he finally noticed that he couldn't feel emotions since Raph was now Shredder's puppet. The insults manage to get Raph mad, resulting in the Mind-Worm being spat out of him.

Meanwhile, a figure walked from behind Shredder, lurking in the shadows, ready to make an entrance. Just as Rockwell freed Slash from the mind control, the figure jumped in and threw ice spikes at the group. The turtle brothers were horrified upon seeing you under the spell. The only difference was that your hair was white and blue veins were visible below your eyes and travelled down to your cheekbones. The visible veins also travelled from all around your neck, to your ears and to your jawline. Eyes white and pupils gone, you weren’t yourself. And so, you attacked the members of your family mercilessly, throwing ice spikes at them and hitting them with freezing ice blasts. The room got cold which weakened the brothers even more since they were cold blooded. Leo didn’t want to fight you so he only dodged and blocked your attacks.

“Y/N, baby, snap out of it! Come back to me!” Leo spoke but you didn’t answer. Just then, your ice spikes and his staff clashed, creating a loud clanging sound. “I’m so sorry I let this happen to you. You’ve already been through so much and I promised I’d protect you. I failed you and I’m sorry. Just please, for me, remember who you are! You’re Y/N L/N, a badass, strong and determined woman who I fell in love with!” With a grunt, you pushed him away, making him slide on his feet before stopping. “I’m not fighting you.” He dropped his weapon on the ground. 

“Then die.” You coldly spoke before charging at him with an even longer and sharper ice spike.

The weapon was just a few inches in front of Leo’s face before you suddenly stopped. Your body couldn’t physically hurt Leo. In that small moment, Leo took the opportunity to grab your face and kiss you deeply. Time had stopped once again and your body was frozen in place. Something was changing inside of you but you didn’t know what. It was only when Leo pulled away that your pupils had come back and your hair turned H/C again. You grunted and spat out the worm which landed on the floor, screeching loudly. Leo stepped on it and hugged you tightly. All you could do was pant as the sudden rush of adrenaline had left your body.

“It is time I end this experiment.” Shredder spoke, getting up into a fighting position.

“We’ll take care of him, find a place to hide.” Leo whispered and you nodded, moving to hide behind one of the statues.

“Turtles, Mutanimals, get him!” Leo ordered and all the mutants charged at Shredder.

One by one, each of the mutants were defeated by him with only Leo and Raph left. As the two turtles were about to be defeated by Shredder, Slash and Leatherhead pushed down one of the statues on him. There was silence and moment of thought - did they actually do it? But the eight mutants only had a moment of peace before Foot-Bots flooded into the room, with Tiger Claw getting back up to his feet. Raph wanted to fight some more, but Leo told him that they would do it another time. Leo quickly grabbed you and all four turtles threw a smoke bomb, giving them and the Mutanimals a chance to get away. Tiger Claw commanded the Foot-bots to move the statue, revealing the Shredder safely hidden underneath it. He got out of the hole and screamed in anger at his defeat.

Back at the lair, Slash and Rockwell stood before Splinter, Slash offering him some tea and apologizing for their actions. Splinter said there was nothing to forgive and that it was Shredder's doing, not theirs. Rockwell thanked the others for saving them with Mikey saying it was good to have Raph back. Raph expressed his gratitude to Leo, with the eldest turtle teasing that every team needed a hothead like him in it. That got Raph growling as he stood before Leo, making him feel a bit nervous. But then to Leo's shock, Raph grabbed him in a tight hug, with Leo smiling at him. **(A/N: y’all this scene made my heart go wEEEE)**. Donnie then made his way over to you and motioned for you to follow him to a quieter place.

“Y/N, I don’t think your powers are gone.” Donnie said. “The brain worm somehow triggered them to come out.”

“A psychic block was put in your brain.” Rockwell’s voice suddenly interrupted. “When I was under Shredder’s control, I looked inside your mind but couldn’t go further. Something was blocking me.”

“A psychic block?” You questioned, confused.

“A mental block in other terms.” Donnie clarified. “Your brain is suppressing your powers from coming out and Rockwell is saying that Stockman did that somehow.”

“Well he did do a lot of experiments on me… Some I can’t even remember.”

“That might be the key, Y/N.” Rockwell said, earning a confused look from you. “Have you spoken about your experience to anyone at all?”

“There’s the community therapist but she’s pretty busy with patients who had it worse than me.”

“Worse than being drilled alive?” Donnie retorted.

You shrugged. “It’s hard to explain it all to some Doctor. Yeah everyone is aware of the Kraang now but that’s it and I can’t just go around saying ‘oh yeah did you know there’s this super powerful assassin who has like, a whole army of mutants??’ People would either think I’m crazy or go crazy themselves and then the city would turn into a chaotic hell pit!”

“Fair point.” Rockwell nodded. “However, if you’re ever going to get your powers back, you will need to tap onto those memories. It may just help you break through the psychic block.”

“I…” You sighed. “I don’t know… I just wanna heal from this.”

Donnie placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. “It’s okay, Y/N, it’s okay. Your brain is protecting you by suppressing these memories, it’s kind of its job. It’s going to take some time for you to access them. I’ll help as much as I can, okay?”

Tears already started swelling up in your eyes and so to hide them, you launched yourself onto the tall turtle, wrapping your arms around his neck and burying your face on his plastron. Donnie smiled and hugged you back, rubbing your back in circles with his large palm.

“Thanks, Don. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” You mumbled.

“Heheh. What are families for, huh?” He chuckled.

“Is everything okay?” A new voice asked. Donnie turned his attention over to his older brother.

“Yup. We found a way to get her powers back.” He said just as you pulled away.

“That’s great!” Leo smiled.

“There’s nothing Donnie can’t do.” You sniffed. “Now, I dunno about you guys but I’m craving some food.”

“Luckily for you, my dear, I just ordered pizza.” Leo said, showing his phone to you which confirmed his claim.

“Oh my God I think I just fell for you all over again.” You turned around and fell backwards which made Leo panic and catch you before you hit the ground.

“What was that for???”

“What? I literally just said I fell for you.”

A collective groan was heard. 


	32. The Deadly Venom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew it's been a while huh?
> 
> Yeah university started 2 months ago for me and although I don't have many subjects, it's been pretty time consuming, especially since I'm juggling a part time job at the same time. I come home drained and all I wanna do is chill and watch YouTube. 
> 
> Also I had a disagreement with someone in the tmnt discord server which led me to being kicked out and that kinda distraught me to the point I just felt afraid to go back into tmnt. But after some thought, I'm actually glad I got kicked out, it was kinda toxic with all the shade being thrown at the 2012 iteration and I was hardly active. I had plans on leaving anyway. The disagreement did illuminate me on my thought process tho so I'm thankful for that. 
> 
> All in all, more good came out from that argument :) 
> 
> Either way I'm back! Updates will be slow from now on but I'll do my best! Thanks for tuning in!

Another week or so had gone by and changes in the city could easily be seen - buildings were fixed, electricity had come back, water was restored and people were slowly getting back to their workplaces. Speaking of work, you had gotten an email from Roosevelt High. The school was thankfully not too damaged and the teachers were okay so class would resume next week. Although you weren’t a big fan of school, it would be nice for the students to see each other again in order to fully recover. Connor had texted you about meeting up with the gang again before school would start and you had agreed.

It was a cold night in New York but you didn’t feel anything at all. In fact, you felt warm. However it wasn’t because you were under a blanket or next to a heater, it was because you were in the lair, peeking inside the dojo, watching Leo and Splinter train. Your wandering eyes were more focused on Leo, though. He was going all-out, not hesitating one bit with his bokken katana. Sweat trickled down his forehead to his tight jaw, then down the tense muscles of his arms which made them shine under the light coming from the ceiling. Grunts and pants were heard along with the clanging of the two wooden swords. Leo was just so hot and it warmed you up.

“Y/N you’re drooling.” A voice snapped you back to reality. You turned your head to the side to see Raph with a shit-eating grin.

“I’m not-”

“You’re thirsty.”

You slapped your hand over his mouth and shushed him while your face turned beet red. He wasn’t lying, during this entire time you were imagining Leo grunting and panting in the bedroom while he mercilessly fu-

“Man, they're really going at it. Sensei still hasn't fully recovered.” Donnie suddenly spoke, peeking inside the dojo as well. Thank God he interrupted your thoughts or that would have gone in a very nasty place.

“Slash messed him up pretty bad. It's gonna take a while before he gets all his strength back.” Raph said.

“Found him! Go ninja go ninja go!” Mikey happily exclaimed, holding up his stuffed iguana. However he was cut off by his two brothers shushing him.

Meanwhile, Leo defeated Splinter, pointing his bokken sword at him. Splinter congratulated him but Leo admitted that he only won because Splinter was still injured. The rat master then started chanting a mantra and healed his leg, prompting Leo to ask Splinter what he had done. Splinter explained that it was an ancient secret art known as the Healing hand and offered to teach his son the technique. And so, Leo sat down in front of his sensei and copied his hand gestures. You continued watching in awe, admiring your boyfriend’s determination to learn. He was so studious and enthusiastic, if he were a student in school, he would be an A student for sure.

Once the session was over, Splinter walked back to his room to recover and Leo walked over to you and his three brothers who were still watching.

“You were all watching?” Leo asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yeah dude that was awesome!” Mikey squealed.

“We’ve never seen you both go all-out like that.” Donnie remarked.

“You should’ve seen Y/N, she was drooling all over you.” Raph teased, poking your red cheeks.

“Raph!!” You scolded, punching his shoulder.

“Oh really~?” Leo swaved with a smirk. He made his voice deeper as well which made his sound twice as sexy.

“Oh my- I can’t with you guys. I’m gonna get a drink.” You grumbled and walked over to the kitchen, hiding your red face.

You walked to the kitchen, opened the cabinet, grabbed a glass cup and poured tap water inside. Lifting the glass to your mouth, you gulped down the lukewarm liquid. Essentially, you were trying to calm your hormones. You were 16 going on 17 - the right age for your hormones to go haywire, especially now that you had a kickass boyfriend. The sound of the shower running interrupted your thoughts. Leo was taking a shower, which made sense since he had just worked out and was drenched in sweat. A smile graced your lips - horniness aside, you loved him, he made you so happy, he helped you become a better person and a better fighter. You were able to get better control over your powers thanks to him.

Oh right. You didn’t have powers anymore.

Donnie had told you that the only way for you to retrieve your powers was to tap into your trauma. It had been a week and yet you couldn’t bring yourself to remember those experiences. It was bad enough you could hardly get any sleep at night. Tapping into those buried memories? You could lose your mind. The thought of that made you shudder and gulp more water down your throat. You sighed and looked at your hands with a sad frown. Truthfully, you missed your powers, you regret ever wishing they were gone because now, you just felt like a puzzle with a missing piece.

“Is everything okay, Y/N?” A voice interrupted your thoughts which you recognised to be Leo’s.

You turned to him and shrugged. “Yeah, it’s just… y’know… I miss my powers.”

“Donnie had a solution no?” Leo asked, walking to you and wrapping his arms around your waist.

“He did but it’s not easy. He says I have to remember all the shit that’s been done to me. Apparently, it’s the only way to bridge the wall that my brain created to protect me. I tried but… those memories are hidden away too deeply for me alone to reach.” You explained softly, nuzzling your face in the crook of his neck.

“I don’t really like the idea of you remembering those awful things but… it’s the only way for you to fully recover and to get your powers back.” Leo softly said, resting his cheek against the top of your head.

You hummed in response and closed your eyes, embracing the moment. He just felt so warm against you, he smelt like sakura flowers which calmed you. One of the perks of being in a relationship with him was that your nose would be graced with wonderful smells. A man who smells good is an attractive man in your opinion. A few seconds went by before he pulled away and cupped your cheek, looking in your eyes.

“Baby… you look so tired.” Leo whispered, running his thumb gently under your eyebags.

“Heh, sleep is for the weak.” You joked but Leo didn’t laugh. Instead, he bent down, wrapped one arm around your legs and the other around your back and lifted you up, carrying you bridal style. “Eep!” You yelped at the sudden lift. “What are you doing?”

“I’m taking you to my room where you’ll get some shut-eye.” Leo replied as a matter of factly. You sighed and nodded, not really feeling like arguing.

And so, the leader carried you to his humble room, placed you on his bed and pulled the cover over your body. No words were exchanged, it was just him taking care of you, him being a caring boyfriend. After pulling the covers, you instantly started to feel tired and a yawn escaped your lips. Leo smiled, seeing that he was right and putting you to bed was working. He bent down and kissed your forehead before pulling away slightly and glancing at your lips. Leo gave in to his temptations and pressed his lips against yours for a sweet kiss. You kissed back, loving the feeling of his lips on yours. There was nothing needed to be said; you could understand what he was telling you through this kiss. However, due to the need for air, you both parted and smiled lovingly at each other for a few seconds before Leo got up and left the room so you could sleep. After closing the door, he couldn’t help but blush and giggle like a 5 year old. He was just so happy to have a girl like you in his life, to have you as his girlfriend, someone he never thought he’d have. He sighed dreamily but not too loudly, he didn’t want his brothers to tease him. Unfortunately, Raph saw him and smirked before continuing to beat the dummy. Leo walked to the couch in the living room, joining Mikey in his cartoon marathon. Mikey looked back at him and cheekily smiled - he knew what was going on and he was happy for his big brother, he deserved it after all he had been through.

After about an hour of leisure, the sound of a man crying for help echoed in the living room. The boys, now on alert, looked to the side to see Kirby carrying his unconscious daughter in her pyjamas. A concerned Donnie told his brothers to give her some space so he could analyse. He lifted her sleeve and was horrified to see two deep holes, blood pouring out profusely. He brought her to his lab where he attached several wires to her body which connected to a few monitors, showing x rays of different parts of her body. Everyone was in the lab, looking at the monitors, April and Donnie. April’s condition was worsening which made Kirby panic. In Leo’s room, you were awake after hearing Kirby’s pleas and after yawning and stretching a few times, you got up and went to the lab.

“What’s happening?” You asked, rubbing your eyes. Once they were fully open and you were aware of what you were seeing, your heart immediately started racing at the sight of April. “Oh my God, April!” You rushed to her but Leo stopped you, holding you by your waist. “What happened to her?!”

“She was bitten by a poisonous snake in her bedroom.” Leo replied, still holding you. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Guys!” Raph called out. “We got an SOS from Casey’s bike, I’m gonna check it out.”

“Take Mikey with you.” Leo ordered.

“Why?”

“Because you might need backup and I’m too busy helping Donnie.”

“I’ll go too!” You spoke but Leo squeezed your waist lightly.

“No way. You’re staying here where you're safe.” Leo denied, his tone strict.

“One of my best friends is out there possibly passed out and you’re telling me to stay here and do nothing?!” You argued, trying to free yourself from his grip.

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.” Usually you would have found his tone sexy but considering the situation, you found it hurtful. Moreover, his fingers were pressed against your wounds which were still healing.

“Let me go, you’re hurting me!” You cried, making Leo instantly let go of you, fear and regret in his eyes.

However he regained his composure and turned away from you, focusing on April. By then, Mikey and Raph were gone, leaving you in the lab, feeling useless. Whilst the others were busy, you sneaked out of the lab and tiptoed towards the exit. You glanced back at the lab and huffed.

_Fuck you Leo_.

And with that thought, you jogged through the pitch black tunnels of the sewers. Thankfully, you had your phone with you so you switched on the light to guide you. You were heading towards the manhole cover to look for Casey. Although you didn't have his exact location, you knew he couldn’t have gone far from the cinema where he had watched a movie with April. However a faint voice that echoed in the empty sewers interrupted your thoughts and you pointed your phone towards the direction of the sound but there was nothing, just darkness. A shiver went up your spine, it felt like you were in a horror movie and you were seconds away from being murdered. You gulped and continued to make your way towards the cover but just as you reached the ladder, the same sound echoed once again however it was more distinctive this time and you could recognise what - or rather _who_ \- it was.

Raph. He was groaning in pain.

Now you were worried. He had gone to look for Casey not too long ago, there was no way he could be in the sewers at this moment. Then again April got bit by a snake in her bedroom so was this really a surprise? Still, it was strange. The question now was whether you go inspect it like every single idiot main character in a horror movie OR continue your search for Casey like a normal human being.

The choice was obvious.

**[x] Follow the sound.**

There wouldn’t be much of a story if the main character was super smart now would there?

And so you flashed your light towards the direction of Raph’s groaning and cautiously walked, your eyes scanning every inch of the smelly environment, every crack in the wall, every creepy crawler roaming around. With every step you made, there was a “plip” sound as you made contact with the humid floor of the sewers. It only made the atmosphere even more creepy. Either way, you sucked it up and picked up your pace. Soon enough, you caught sight of a figure on the floor and upon flashing your light at it, it was revealed to be Raph.

“Raph!” You gasped, running to his side and inspecting him. There were multiple bites on his arms and legs.

“So the fish bit on the hook, huh?” A chilling dark voice spoke in your ear which made you steam in surprise and stumble back. Your eyes scanned the shadowy figure but you couldn’t recognise them due to how dark it was. “I didn’t think it would be this easy to capture you.” The person walked closer to you and grabbed your jaw to make you look at them. When your eyes met, you felt your body freeze, their eyes were practically glowing in the dark, they were green and their pupils were slit like a cat… or a snake.

“K… Karai…?” You whispered, your voice shaking which made her chuckle evilly.

“Bingo.” She smirked, her face inches away from yours. “A little birdy told me you lost your powers, which makes you the perfect prey.”

“Y-Y/N…!” Raph groaned from the ground, attempting to get up but Karai simply turned to him and punched his face.

You took the chance to tackle her down, your chest pressed against hers, your left hand pinning her wrists above her head and your other arm against her neck. However she didn’t seem phased, she simply smirked at you, showing her snake fangs.

“Not bad.” She said.

Before you could do anything else, you felt something wrap itself around your legs. Suddenly, you felt a sharp pain in both your legs, making you yelp in pain and remove yourself off of the snake mutant. You looked down to see two white snakes slithering up your waist and biting down on your forearms, emitting another scream from you. Blood leaked out from the bites, mixing with the sewer water on the ground. Karai chuckled and got up on her feet, grabbing you by your throat and lifting you up in the air. You gagged, trying to move your arms but your entire body felt numb and your head was dizzy.

“Wow you really are weak. The poison travelled twice as fast in your body than the others.” She spoke before throwing you over her shoulder. “I’ll add you to my collection.”

Back at the lair, April’s condition was getting worse to the point Splinter had to interrupt, claiming that only the ancient scrolls could help her now. While looking over the mantra, Leo got a phone call from Karai who was using Raphael's phone and revealed that she had captured his brothers, Casey and you. She demanded that Leo and Donnie come to her at the station or else the others would die, starting with you. Kirby became angry at Donnie for not curing April but Leo interrupted telling them they had another problem. With emotions running high, Splinter demanded silence and told them that if he could focus, he could remove the poison from April's system. Leo instructed Kirby to stay at the lair and help Splinter while he took Donnie to save the others.

The two brothers made their way to the station, however the more they walked, the more ill they felt. Donnie looked at Leo only to see his body distorted and warped. Leo on the other hand, when he looked at Donnie, he had a pineapple for a head. It was at that moment they realised they had been poisoned. As soon as they arrived at the station, Donnie had collapsed and seconds after, so did Leo. Karai ordered the Footbots to hang the turtles from the ceilings as trophies. While being carried, Leo began chanting the mantra that Splinter had taught him and fought against the Footbots. Leo attempted to explain to Karai that Shredder had used a brain controlling parasite on her however the female ninja refused to believe him and instead charged at him, initiating a fight with Karai seemingly having the upper hand. Leo begged Karai to fight against the parasite but she still wouldn’t listen to him and delivered her final blow. She used her snake hands to bite both his arms and then kicked him away. He hit against a post and fell on his knees, panting after the fight and at the searing pain in his arms. His eyes flickered over to your hanging body, you looked like an angel. He took a deep breath and got on his feet, chanting the mantra and performing the hand motions whilst Karai watched confusingly. Once he finished his sentence, he pressed his hands on his chest and he glowed, feeling the mantra heal his body.

“What are you doing? What is this?” She asked but Leo started chanting again.

So she began attacking him however he dodged them and counter attacked, slapping her snake arms away. Attack after attack, he kept blocking, dodging and counter attacking until he finished her off with one final blow to her stomach which pushed her back and knocked her unconscious. Leo panted before proceeding to grab his brothers, you and Casey and just as he was about to bring Karai along with him, she had disappeared.

Back at the dojo, once Leo had brought everyone inside, he and Splinter performed the mantra and healed everyone. Their eyes opened and they sat up, feeling a bit dizzy but overall better compared to being poisoned.

“Man…” Casye groaned. “Snake bites are the worst of the worst.”

“Snake bites aren’t that bad.” Mikey spoke, optimism in his voice. “I've been bitten by giant wasps, mutant dogs, dream beavers, squirrels, squirrelanoids.”

“Are you still talking?” Raph interrupted his brother’s list.

“It wasn't really snakes that almost took us out. It was Karai.” April informed.

“She’s back under Shredder’s control.” Donnie said.

In the back, Leo walked out the dojo, slumping his shoulders in defeat. You noticed that and followed him out to the living room, stopping him with your arms wrapped around his waist and resting your head against his shell. His large hands placed themselves on top of your smaller ones, engulfing them completely.

“You saved us Leo, you saved me.” You whispered, pulling him closer to you. “I’m sorry I ran off, it was stupid.”

“No… I was a jerk, you had every reason to run off after the way I treated you.” Leo said in a low tone.

You moved so you could face him and cupped his cheeks. “You were worried about me.”

“I hurt you.” His hand gently went to your side where your stitches were.

“You didn’t do it on purpose.” You stated, your tone firm yet soft. “I know you’d never hurt me.” You got on your toes and pecked his lips. “You’re my hero, Leo.”

“You should be enjoying your victory.” A new voice interrupted. You both looked back to see Splinter making his way to you two. “You did a great thing today, Leonardo. You saved everyone.”

“Not everyone. I tried to get Karai out of Shredder's control. I failed, sensei.” Leo sadly explained. 

“We saved her once, Leonardo. Perhaps we can save her again. And now you show great gifts as a healer. Being at the edge of your life, led you to unleash a power that few martial artists can tap. I am proud of you, my son.” Splinter smiled, placing a hand on Leo’s shoulder. The eldest son looked at his sensei with hope in his eyes. Feeling proud of your boyfriend, you hugged his side and he gladly returned it.

“Um Leo.” Donnie spoke, joining the trio in the living room along with Mikey and Raph. “We just wanted to thank you for saving us.”

“Yeah, you kicked footbot butt, stopped the poison, got us out of there. And you did it solo. None of us could have done that.” Raph listed with his fingers, a grin on his face. Leo looked at you, then at his brothers and finally his sensei.

“Maybe you're right. Maybe tonight was a win.”


End file.
